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Friday July 6, 7:22 PM European shares edge up, oil and car firms gain FRANKFURT, July 6 (Reuters) - European stocks rose on Friday with investors awaiting a key U.S. employment report, as surging crude prices lifted oil majors and car makers and miners rose on price target upgrades. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was 0.4 percent higher at 1615.11 points at 1051 GMT. U.S. June non-farm payrolls data are due at 1230 GMT. A Reuters poll of economists have forecast the U.S. economy added a net 120,000 non-farm jobs last month. "An important theme for the markets as usual is how interest rates are going to develop going forward and the U.S jobs data will therefore be a strong focus," said HVB equity strategist Tammo Greetfeld. He said reactions in the bond market would be closely watched, adding a further increase in bond yields would put pressure on stock markets. "We would consider a significant tightening of credit conditions for companies as another potential shock that could materialise over the near term," Goldman Sachs said. Oil companies gained after crude surged to 11-month highs above $75 a barrel. Royal Dutch Shell and Total both rose more than 2 percent. Citing higher oil prices, Lehman Brothers raised its earnings per share estimates for European oil companies by on average 8 percent for 2007. Deutsche Bank upgraded BP and Royal Dutch Shell to "buy". Carmakers were also strong gainers after several price target upgrades. Peugeot Citroen rose more than 5 percent to hit a record 64.90 euros, after Kepler Equities lifted its price target to 77 euros from 65 euros. Fiat rose 3 percent after JPMorgan raised its target price to 30 euros from 20 euros. "Limited re-rating so far implies the market has not recognised the potential value creation from splitting the group and re-deploying capital on highly rated businesses," JPMorgan said in a note on Fiat. Citigroup said Italy was Europe's "cheapest country relative to its own history," and relative to the rest of the market. "At 3.5 percent, the trailing dividend for Italy is the highest in Europe," Citigroup said, adding Italy was among the cheapest also measured by the trailing price to book value and by the 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio. MINERS UP Miners were also among gainers on Friday after Credit Suisse upgraded its price forecasts for precious and base metals and raised its price targets for some metal and mining companies. BHP Billiton rose 1.7 percent, while copper miner Antofagasta gained 0.8 percent. "The resounding message from the field is that "supply is not keeping pace, and probably won't in some cases, for several years,"" Credit Suisse said in the note, referring to the outlook for commodity markets. UBS shares traded 0.8 percent higher after surprise news that the bank had replaced Chief Executive Peter Wuffli with his deputy, Marcel Rohner, effective immediately. UBS drew a veil over the real reasons for Wuffli's sudden resignation but traders said it may be linked to the embarrassing closure of a hedge fund earlier this year. "We expect the management change to be seen as a positive for the bank," Bear Stearns said in a note. On the downside, shares in French software group, Dassault Systemes dropped 1.4 percent after its U.S. rival Parametric Technology Corp. missed its third-quarter sales and profit forecasts, traders say. Spanish lift firm Zardoya plummeted after Goldman Sachs put a "sell" recommendation on the stock, wiping as much as 30 percent off the elevator maker.