European shares hit fresh six-month closing high

LONDON Feb 2 (Reuters) - European shares hit a six-month closing high on Thursday, after U.S. weekly jobless claims showed the market was improving, while Xstrata and Glencore led the rises on confirmed merger talks.

Gains, however, were capped as the FTSEurofirst 300 index failed to break a major resistance level as uncertainty grew about Greek debt swap talks needed to avoid a messy default.

Miner Xstrata and commodities trader Glencore took the top spots, jumping 9.9 percent and 6.9 percent respectively, after it was confirmed the pair were in merger talks to create a combined group worth more than 50 billion pounds ($79 billion).

"Xstrata is the big one, it is an encouraging sign to the market that deals are being made and helping boost market confidence and sentiment," said Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital Spreads.

"But the strength in the market is going to be short-lived, on the whole clients are bearish and only making short-term positions, we've got to see what happens in Greece as there is still a possibility of a chaotic default."

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares provisionally closed up 0.2 percent at 1,059.15 points after being up as much as 1,061.25 and as low as 1,054.93.

The index was not able to push past the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of its 2011 February high to September low at 1,061.59.

(Reporting by Joanne Frearson)