Europe shares at new 15-mth closing high; trade thin

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 up 6th straight session in thin trade
                                
 * UK FTSE 100 recovers to pre-Lehman levels for 1st time
                                
 * BA down on strike action, terror angst

                                
 By Dominic Lau
                                
 LONDON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - European shares rose in thin
trade on Tuesday, hitting their highest close in 15 months for
the fourth consecutive session, with miners and drugmakers the
leading gainers.
                                
 The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of leading European
shares closed 0.3 percent higher at 1,046.89 points, rising for
the sixth straight session. Volumes were about 39 percent of the
pan-European index's 90-day daily average.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> advanced 0.7 percent to
5,437.61, recovering to levels not seen since before the
collapse of Lehman Brothers in mid-September 2008. Germany's DAX
<.GDAXI> added 0.1 percent and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> put on
0.3 percent.
                                
 Miners were among the top gainers in Europe, as copper
prices hit their highest level in more than 15 months, lifted by
the threat of industrial action in one of the world's top copper
mines in Chile.
                                
 BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Anglo American
<AAL.L>, Vedanta Resources <VED.L>, Eurasian Natural Resources
<ENRC.L> and Antofagasta <ANTO.L> advanced 0.6-4 percent.
                                
 "There is very little volume going through the market this
time of the year. It's not unusual for the market to end the
year quite strongly," said Darren Winder, equity strategist at
Cazenove.
                                
 "What the market has embraced in the last three months is
economic recovery ... That's fundamentally given all the support
to valuations."
                                
 The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> has rallied 62 percent since
hitting a floor in early March, and is up 26 percent for the
year, on track for its best yearly gains since 1999.
                                
 Winder said recovery in corporate earnings, higher economic
growth forecasts for next year and expectations of low interest
rates, at least in the first few months of 2010, would keep
equities in demand.
                                
 U.S. consumer confidence improved more than expected in
December, hitting a three-month high as job market pessimism
eased and consumers' expectations reached a two-year high, the
Conference Board, an industry group, said on Tuesday.
                                
 Drugmakers were also in favour, with Sanofi-Aventis
<SASY.PA>, GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> and AstraZeneca <AZN.L> up
0.2-0.7 percent.
                                
 Banks <.SX7P>, one of the best performers this year, were
weaker. HSBC <HSBA.L>, UBS <UBSN.VX>, Barclays <BARC.L> and
Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> lost 0.4-0.7 percent.
                                
 British Airways <BAY.L> eased 1.6 percent, dented by
concerns about increased airport security as a result of an
attempted terrorist attack on a U.S. Northwest Airlines flight
over the Christmas period, and with another strike vote by BA's
cabin staff looming.
 (Editing by Rupert Winchester)