LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - UK shares led a rebound in European equity indexes on Friday after early poll results showed Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives were set to govern Britain for another five years.
Broader market sentiment was also supported by a return to calm in U.S and European government bonds after a recent selloff, with investors holding fire ahead of key U.S. jobs data due later in the session.
At 0707 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European shares was up 2.1 percent at 1,578.68 points, with Britain's FTSE 100 also up by a similar amount.
British defence group Babcock gained 11.6 percent while banking group Lloyds rose 7.5 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index had previously fallen 6 percent from a 14-1/2 year peak hit in April as a rebound in oil prices raised the spectre of an early interest rate hike in the United States at a time of patchy economic growth.
Investors were likely to focus on U.S. employment data due at 1230 GMT for an indication of the state of the world's largest economy.
(Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)