* FTSEurofirst 300 closes 2.1 percent higher
* Energy, mining shares gain as gold hits record, crude up
* Cadbury shares set record as rival bidders circle
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - European shares recorded their
biggest one-day percentage gain in more than five weeks on
Monday, with better-than-expected U.S. housing data boosting
optimism on the economy and banks and commodity shares gaining.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
rose 2.1 percent to 1,023.49 points, the biggest one-day
percentage gain since Oct 14.
A broadly-based rise made up more than half the losses the
index posted over the previous four sessions. It has surged more
than 58 percent since hitting a record low in early March.
Sales of previously-owned U.S. homes rose in October at a
faster-than-expected pace to the highest in more than 2-1/2
years as buyers rushed to take advantage of a popular tax
credit, a survey showed on Monday.
The National Association of Realtors said sales surged a
record 10.1 percent to an annual rate of 6.10 million units, the
highest since February 2007, from a downwardly revised 5.54
million in September. []
"There's optimism on the economy after the U.S. housing
data," said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, equity markets strategist
at Postbank in Bonn.
"Markets can rally further from here, but not too far as
central banks start tightening policy."
Banks were supported by positive macro-economic data and
after senior U.S. Federal Reserve official James Bullard said
the central bank should keep alive its mortgage-related assets
purchase programme beyond a planned end-date to give
policy-makers more flexibility. []
BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Barclays
<BARC.L>, Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, and UniCredit
<CRDI.MI> rose between 2.7 and 3.8 percent.
Lloyds Banking Group <LLOY.L> rose 3.8 percent after it said
demand for its 8.78 billion pounds ($14.52 billion) bond
exchange was strong, indicating possible appetite for its record
rights issue due to be priced on Tuesday. []
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <> ended the day 2
percent higher, Germany's DAX <> rose 2.4 percent and
France's CAC-40 <> gained 2.3 percent.
Wall Street, at the start of a week that will be shortened
by the Thanksgiving Day holiday, was higher around the time
European bourses closed. The Dow Jones <>, S&P 500 <.SPX>
and Nasdaq Composite <> were up between 1.4 and 1.6
percent.
MINERS, OILS GAIN
Bullard's remarks, and those of others suggesting U.S.
interest rates will remain low, helped weaken the dollar,
boosting gold to another record high of more than $1,170 an
ounce. Copper hit 14-month peaks and crude oil <CLc1> gained 2.7
percent to more than $79.50 a barrel.
Miners BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Lonmin
<LMI.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> rose between 2.6
and 4 percent.
Among energy companies, BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell
<RDSa.AS>, Repsol <REP.MC>, Total <TOTF.PA> and StatoilHydro
<STL.OL> added between 1.7 and 3 percent.
ENI <ENI.MI> rose 2.1 percent after buying the Ugandan
interests of UK explorer Heritage Oil <HOIL.L> for up to $1.5
billion. []
European economic data also helped to boost sentiment. The
euro zone's dominant service sector grew at its fastest pace in
two years in November suggesting an economic recovery will
continue in the fourth quarter. []
Among individual stocks, Cadbury <CBRY.L> ended 1.7 percent
higher, after touching a record high on speculation of a battle
for the British confectioner between bidder Kraft Foods Inc
<KFT.N> and rivals. []
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by David Cowell)
((brian.gorman@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 9128; Reuters
Messaging: brian.gorman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
