*

Kongsberg tracks best day in 5 months on strong Q2 results

*

Enagas to sell 30% stake in Tallgras to Blackstone, shares

up

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UK's Travis Perkins rises on CEO appointment

*

STOXX 600 up 0.2%

(Updated at 0815 GMT)

By Shubham Batra

July 10 (Reuters) - European shares advanced on

Wednesday led by corporate earnings, although gains were limited

by weak oil and metal prices, while investors awaited Federal

Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's second day of testimony for more

clues on interest rates.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.2% by 0815 GMT,

led by a more than 1% rise in real estate shares.

Limiting the gains, basic resources was down 0.5% as

crude oil and base metals prices declined.

French stocks were up 0.2% after falling in the

previous session, as investors assessed the political situation

following Sunday's legislative election.

Powell on Tuesday said inflation "remains above" the Fed's

2% target, but has been improving in recent months and "more

good data would strengthen" the case for interest rate cuts.

His second day of monetary policy testimony before the House

Financial Services Committee is scheduled for 1000 GMT.

Markets are also awaiting June inflation data out of the

U.S. and Germany due on Thursday.

On quarterly earnings forecast, Deutsche Bank analysts in a

note said, "we expect both earnings and sales to have increased

slightly in Q2, marking the first positive y-o-y growth rate

since Q1 2023."

Norwegian aerospace and defence company Kongsberg Gruppen ( NSKFF )

climbed 8.1% to the top of the benchmark index after

reporting strong revenue growth, improved margins and growing

order backlog in the second quarter.

Enagas rose 3.6% after the Spanish grid operator

agreed to sell its 30.2% stake in Tallgrass Energy to U.S. fund

Blackstone for $1.1 billion.

On the other hand, UK's Barratt Developments slid

2.4% as the homebuilder forecast a fall of up to 7% in its

home-building targets for fiscal year 2025, citing high mortgage

rates and broader economic concerns.

"Higher interest rates have caused the UK housing market to

stall over the last couple of years, and although mortgage

demand looks to be gradually picking up, the ambitious targets

set by the new government could be exactly what is required to

get the market moving," said Mark Crouch, analyst at investment

platform eToro.

Travis Perkins jumped 4.4% after British

construction materials firm named Pete Redfern as its new CEO,

succeeding Nick Roberts who will step down on Sept. 16 after

five years at the helm.

Volkswagen shares slipped 2.2% after it warned

of closing the Brussels site of its luxury brand Audi due to a

sharp drop in demand for high-end electric cars that has hit

Europe's top carmaker.

(Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane

Venkatraman and Varun H K

)