European shares rise, Bunds dip after US jobs data

PARIS/LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - European shares extended their gains to hit a session high on Friday after better-than-expected U.S. monthly jobs data that also showed a drop in the unemployment rate to a four year-low.

At 1336 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,192.57 points. The index was up 0.5 percent shortly before the data was released.

German Bund futures fell as much as 45 ticks on the day to a session low of 142.38 while the cash 10-year yield rose to 1.536 percent from 1.496 percent just before the data.

Sterling fell to a more than 2-1/2 year low against the dollar, to $1.4930 from $1.5035 beforehand.

Non-farm payrolls surged 236,000 jobs last month, data showed, well above economists' expectations for a gain of 160,000. The jobless rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008, from 7.9 percent in January.