* FTSEurofirst 300 <> up 0.7 pct, halts recent slide
* L&G, Cairn Energy rise on above-forecast profit
* For up-to-the-minute stocks news, click on []
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - European shares rose in early
trade on Tuesday, with insurer Legal & General <LGEN.L> and
Cairn Energy <CNE.L> gaining after their profits beat forecasts,
while miners climbed as gold <XAU=> prices picked up.
At 0939 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,072.44 points, after
three days of losses. The European benchmark is up more than 66
percent from its lifetime low of March 9, 2009, but has only
gained 2.5 percent since the start of the year.
British life insurer Legal & General rose 4.8 percent after
it reported profits ahead of analysts' expectations, helped by
cost cuts, and said it saw new opportunities this year despite
subdued economic growth. []
Peers Aviva <AV.L>, Prudential <PRU.L> and Aegon <AEGN.AS>
rose between 1.4 and 1.5 percent.
"The market is likely to consolidate for a period, holding
the gains, but in a trading range, though it was encouraging to
see it make a new (17-month) high recently," said Bernard
McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers.
"There's a danger that fiscal stimulus could be withdrawn
too quickly."
Cairn Energy <CNE.L> surged 10.1 percent after annual profit
beat forecasts. Other energy shares also gained ground, as crude
prices <CLc1> hovered around $81.50 a barrel.
Total <TOTF.PA>, BP <BP.L>, Repsol <REP.MC> and StatoilHydro
<STL.OL> rose between 0.4 and 1 percent.
Miners gained as gold prices recovered from their lowest in
nearly a month, and copper, which rose in New York late on
Monday, was little changed. Anglo American <AAL.L>, Kazakhmys
<KAZ.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L>
rose between 1.8 and 2.3 percent.
The heavyweight banking sector also rose, adding most points
to the benchmark index.
BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Barclays
<BARC.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> and
UniCredit <CRDI.MI> added between 0.8 and 2.4 percent.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC40 <> were up between 0.5 and 0.7
percent.
MERCK FALLS
German drugmaker Merck KGaA <MRCG.DE> fell 1.1 percent after
the company said it put on hold all testing on humans of its
experimental cancer vaccine Stimuvax after a Phase II trial
participant contracted encephalitis.
BAE Systems <BAES.L> fell 1.1 percent, hit by a recent
contract disappointment as well as by a downgrade in rating from
Bernstein Research to "market perform" from "outperform" on
valuation grounds.
U.S. stocks rose on Monday, building on last week's
strength, as the passage of a bill overhauling the healthcare
system ended much of the uncertainty about the issue for
investors.
In macroeconomics, British consumer price inflation slowed
last month for the first time since September.
Later in the session, investors' attention will turn to U.S.
monthly existing home sales and FHFA House Price Index.
(Editing by Hans Peters)
