European shares surge early after Citigroup rescue

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index rises 3.7 percent
                                
 * Most banks gain after Citigroup rescue
                                
 * Oils, miners also rise in broad market rally 
                                
 
                                
 By Brian Gorman
                                
 LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - European shares rose sharply in
early trade on Monday, with financials leading the surge
following a rescue plan for banking giant Citigroup <C.N>, and
after a late rally for U.S. stocks on Friday.
                                
 At 0930 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was up 3.7 percent at 788.91. The index lost 12
percent last week to close at its lowest in five and a half
years and has lost 47.8 percent this year, hurt by the credit
crisis and the prospect of recession.
                                
 Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Deutsche Bank
<DBGKn.DE>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Lloyds <LLOY.L> and UBS <UBS.AG> were
up between 2.7 and 5.9 percent.
                                
 The U.S. government late on Sunday unveiled a $306 billion
rescue package for Citigroup <TRV.F> in the latest attempt to
restore confidence in the ailing financial system.
                                
 European credit derivative indexes rallied sharply on Monday
after the bailout plan.
                                
 "The US rally is obviously good for sentiment, and it's good
that they have decided Citigroup is too big to fail, so on
balance it's a positive but the bad news is that these are
enormous figures. It makes people pause for thought," said
Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in
Dublin.
                                
 Bank of Ireland <BKIR.I> was up 8 percent after press
reports that an Irish-led consortium of private investment firms
is seeking to buy into the company, and possibly Irish Life &
Permanent <IPM.I>.
                                
But UK-based lender Standard Chartered <STAN.L> was 4.2
percent lower after announcing a 1.8 billion pound ($2.69
billion) rights issue that it said would strengthen its balance
sheet and give it the flexibility to take advantage of
opportunities in the current turbulent markets.
                                
 The move by the emerging markets-focused bank, which has
dodged the massive losses from the credit crisis suffered by
some of its competitors, came as analysts called for a capital
cushion to withstand potential losses in Asia and the Middle
East.
                                
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, Germany's DAX
<.GDAXI> and France's CAC-40 <.FCHI> were up between 3.1 and 4.3
percent. 
                                
 The surge was across the board, with only one of the 38
industry groups in the FTSEurofirst 300 lower.
                                
 
                                
 OILS, MINERS GAIN
                                
 Oils moved up, despite the crude price <CLc1> slipping back
below $50. Total <TOTF.PA>, ENI <ENI.MI>, BP <BP.L> and Royal
Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> all rose between 2.2 and 3.8 percent.     
                                
 Miners also gained, even as metals prices fell. Anglo
American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>,
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. <ENRC.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>,
Vedanta Resources <VED.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> rose 4.2 to 5.9
percent.
                                
  French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> was up 7.7
percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded it to "overweight" from
"equal-weight".  
                                
 Anheuser-Busch Inbev <INTB.BR> was 2.9 percent lower after
launching a planned eight-for-five rights issue to part-fund the
$52 billion purchase of U.S. Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch at
a steep discount of 6.45 euros per share.
                                
 McAlinden said that companies such as Standard Chartered and
InBev needing to raise money was a negative for the market. "It
sucks money away from the market, towards a particular company,"
he said."
                                
 Later in the session, Britain's finance minister, Alistair
Darling, will unveil his pre-budget report, expected to include
a temporary cut in VAT to boost consumer spending power before
Christmas.
                                
 The Sunday Times said Darling would scrap plans to increase
corporation tax for small companies and exempt foreign dividends
from tax in an effort to allay concerns that have led several
big companies to shift their tax domicile to Ireland.
                                
 U.S. stocks stormed higher in a late rally on Friday to cap
another volatile week as investors welcomed reports that
President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his point person to
combat the U.S. economic crisis, instilling confidence about the
administration's ability to take action.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> jumped  6.5 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> shot up  6.3 percent, and
the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 5.2 percent. 
                                
 The U.S. may gain further later today, when trading starts
in a week shortened by the Thanksgiving holiday. Futures for the
Dow Jones <DJc1>, S&P 500 <SPc1> and Nasdaq <NDc1> are up
between 0.1 and 1 percent.