European shares briefly extend gains after US data

LONDON, Nov 12 - European shares briefly extended gains in afternoon trading on Thursday after data showed the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless insurance fell for the second week in a row.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped last week to a seasonally adjusted 502,000, the lowest since January, from a revised 514,000 the prior week. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected initial claims to fall to 510,000 from an initially reported 512,000. [ID:nN11377609]

At 1334 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was flat at 1,013.98 points after rising to a high of 1,016.79 points earlier in the session.

Telecommunications shares were among the top gainers, with Vodafone <VOD.L>, Telenor <TEL.OL>, Teliasonera <TLSN.ST>, Inmarsat <ISA.L> and Deutsche Telekom <DTEGn.DE> rising 0.6 to 5.9 percent.