European shares rise before U.S. labour data, Experian dips

* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.9 pct, may close week slightly up

* Experian (Other OTC: EXPGF - news) drops 4.5 pct after U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . data breach

* Lufthansa leads travel stocks higher after upgrade

By Danilo Masoni

LONDON, Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) 2 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday amid gains across all sectors, with investors gaining some confidence in a possible rally by the end the year while awaiting U.S. jobs data later in the day for clues about the timing of an interest rate hike.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.9 and the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index advanced 1.1 percent, following declines on Thursday.

The gains on Friday may help European indexes end a volatile week slightly higher. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index is up 0.3 percent so far this week.

Concerns over an economic slowdown in China and uncertainty over the end of almost a decade of monetary expansion in the United States have weighed on equities in the past quarter, reducing European indexes close to their 2015 lows.

But some investors believe the market could be ready for rebound as it starts a traditionally positive fourth quarter.

"The market is trying to find its equilibrium and I believe it's almost reached it. Thinking strategically, European stocks have never been so interesting," said Enrico Vaccari, a fund manager at Italy's Consultinvest.

Investors are waiting for the U.S. job data to provide clues on the timing of a rate increase and, more importantly, expect the European Central Bank to boost its quantitative easing programme, he said.

Travel and leisure stocks were among top gainers, led by German airline Lufthansa which rose more than 5 percent, following an upgrade by HSBC TO buy from hold.

Technology stocks also fared well following losses in the previous session, when chip makers were hit by concerns over fourth quarter orders from Apple (LSE: 0R2V.L - news) .

But Experian fell 4.5 percent after the world's biggest consumer credit monitoring firm disclosed a massive data breach that exposed sensitive personal information on some 15 million people who applied for service with T-Mobile US.

"Undoubtedly a breach of this magnitude is a major setback, especially to a company that takes data security very seriously," Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) said in a note.

Volkswagen (Other OTC: VLKAF - news) declined a further 3.5 percent, reflecting continuing uncertainty over the fallout from a scandal over the rigging of VW emissions tests in the United States that has wiped out about one third of the car maker's market value.

U.S. employers probably added jobs at a brisk pace in September, a sign that the labour market is near full strength and could push the Federal Reserve to raise rates at one of its two remaining meetings this year.

Today's European research round-up

============================================================ For rolling updates on what is moving European shares please click on ============================================================ For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in brackets: European Equities speed guide................... FTSEurofirst 300 index.............................. STOXX Europe index.................................. Top 10 STOXX sectors........................... Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors...................... Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors................... Top 25 European pct gainers....................... Top 25 European pct losers........................

Main stock markets: Dow Jones............... Wall Street report ..... Nikkei 225............. Tokyo report............ FTSE 100............... London report........... Xetra DAX............. CAC-40............... World Indices..................................... Reuters survey of world bourse outlook......... Western European IPO diary......................... European Asset Allocation........................ Reuters News at a Glance: Equities................. Main currency report:................................. (Editing by Mark Heinrich)