* FTSEurofirst 300 and Euro STOXX 50 broadly flat
* Renault and Airbus rise after solid results
* IAG drops in spite of forecast-beating Q3
* BBVA drags Spain's IBEX lower
By Danilo Masoni
MILAN, Oct 30 (Reuters) - European shares held steady on Friday but were set for their highest monthly gain since mid-2009, with Renault and Airbus rising on solid quarterly results to offset weakness among energy stocks.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index inched 0.01 percent higher while the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index < .STOXX50E> dipped by 0.03 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 is up more than 8 percent in October, lifted European Central Bank signals on the possibility of stronger stimulus measures.
"The market is holding well because there is a lot of short around and valuations are good," said Massimo Baggiani, head of international equity at asset manager Symphonia.
"There are a lot of bargains out there and I expect the market to stabilise and gradually improve as we approach the end of the year."
Renault rose 4.7 percent after third-quarter revenue increased 9.4 percent, lifted by growing business with partners Nissan and Daimler, as well as sales of its own new models in a rebounding European market.
Analysts at SocGen and Nomura lifted their target prices on Renault to 101 euros and 107 euros respectively, both keeping a "buy" rating on the stock.
Airbus rose 4.5 percent after it announced a 20 percent jump in production of its most popular jet and dismissed concern about the health of the jet market as it reported better than expected results.
Telecom Italia rose sharply for a second day to gain more than 3 percent after the founder of Iliad raised a stake in the Italian group to 15 percent.
But British Airways owner IAG fell 4.1 percent despite upgrading its 2015 profit outlook after third-quarter results beat expectations.
"Despite these solid results and the maiden dividend announced yesterday, we think IAG is up with events. The stock has outperformed the wider market and its peers ... and its valuation is unattractive," Cantor Fitzgerald said in a note.
Energy stocks were the biggest sectoral faller, dropping 0.9 percent as crude prices slipped on concern over sluggish demand in a world awash with oil.
Spain's blue-chip index underperformed the rest of Europe with a fall 0.5 percent, weighed by losses in bank BBVA after a larger than expected third-quarter loss.
Today's European research round-up (Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by David Goodman)