Europe shares bounce back, lifted by miners, autos

European shares rebounded from the previous session's seven-week low on Wednesday as strong factory output data from China, one of the world's top metals consumers, boosted miners, while carmakers advanced on positive outlook.

But analysts said that the bounce could be short-lived and concerns over the euro zone debt crisis could soon resurface. The market's gains were also capped by weaker food and retail shares after Carrefour （CARR.PA） cut its 2010 profit forecast.

Carrefour shares were down 7 percent after hitting a one-year low, while the STOXX Europe 600 Retail index .SXRP was down 0.3 percent.

At 1232 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 1.4 percent at 1,081.64 points, while the Euro STOXX 50 .STOXX50E rose 1.8 percent, moving back above a key support level -- the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of the index's drop from an April high to a May low.

"Today is a good day but I would not bet on this going to last for too long. We still have considerable uncertainties around the sovereign credit crisis and this will, on and off, again spook the market," said Klaus Wiener, head of research at Generali Investments in Cologne.

"We have a macroeconomic picture which is fairly decent. All we have to come to terms with is how the credit crisis evolve and here we see that the issue is likely to linger because some of the key questions will not be resolved quickly."

Washington is sending a top U.S. Treasury envoy to Europe and G20 officials are discussing the turmoil in a conference call, a day after investors pushed the risk premiums on Spanish and Italian government debt to new highs. Standard & Poor's warned on Tuesday it could cut Portugal's credit ratings.

The stock market was led higher by stronger miners, with the STOXX Europe basic resources index .SXPP up 2.3 percent on firmer metals after figures showed China's official purchasing managers' index （PMI） rose to a seven-month high in November.

BHP Billiton （BLT.L）, Rio Tinto （RIO.L） and Xstrata （XTA.L） gained 2.4 to 3.9 percent.