* FTSEurofirst 300 index rises 1.4 pct
* Most banks gain; Bank of Ireland falls on capital raising
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - European shares rose sharply in
early trade on Monday, following strong gains in the United
States and Japan, and with banks higher amid optimism Greece can
avoid defaulting on its debt.
At 0815 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 1.4 percent at 1,107.16 points, after
rising 0.8 percent in the previous session, though it fell for a
second week.
The European benchmark is up more than 71 percent from its
lifetime low of March 9, 2009.
Greece's finance minister said on Sunday aid from the EU and
IMF would arrive in time to avert what would be the euro zone's
first sovereign debt default, although there were growing signs
that a 45 billion euros ($60 billion) rescue package would have
to be bigger.
Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Barclays <BARC.L>, BNP Paribas
<BNPP.PA>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Lloyds
<LLOY.L> and Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> rose between 1.2 and
3.1 percent.
But Bank of Ireland <BKIR.I> fell 4.4 percent after
announcing a plan to raise 3.4 billion euros ($4.6 billion),
half of it in a rights issue, which it said would avert a big
rise in the government's shareholding.
"U.S. economic data, and other global data has been driving
the market higher," said Bernard McAlinden, investment
strategist at NCB Stockbrokers. "I'm expecting the market to
start going sideways. I'm surprised at how well it's recovered
after the recent correction."
Commodity stocks gained, as economic optimism boosted the
price of crude <CLc1>, and metals, including copper <MCU3=LX>.
Total <TOTF.PA>, ENI <ENI.MI>, BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch
Shell <RDSa.L> rose between 1.1 and 1.6 percent.
Miners to gain included Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta
<ANTO.L>, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp.<ENRC.L>, Kazakhmys
<KAZ.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Vedanta <VED.L> and
Xstrata <XTA.L>, up between 2.2 and 4 percent.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC40 <> rose between 1.1 and 1.5
percent.
AIR LIQUIDE RISES
Among individual movers, French industrial gases group Air
Liquide <AIRP.PA> rose 1.8 percent after reporting higher
quarterly sales, and predicting net profit would grow this year
as bright prospects in emerging markets offset the gloom in
mature ones.
Industrial conglomerate Siemens <SIEGn.DE> rose 2.4 percent
higher after German magazine Euro am Sonntag cited sources as
saying the company is set to raise its profit forecast and post
record earnings in 2009-2010.
Dutch navigation device maker TomTom <TOM2.AS> rose 7.4
percent after reporting better-than-expected pricing for its
devices, even as it said it planned to give less detail in
future about hardware sales.
On the downside, UCB <UCB.BR> fell 5.7 percent after the
Belgian pharmaceutical company announced that the U.S. relaunch
of its Neupro patch for Parkinson's disease could be delayed by
two years. []
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 <> rose 2.3 percent on
Monday, the biggest daily percentage gain since late February.
U.S. stocks rose to a 19-month high on Friday as Merck eased
concerns about the impact of healthcare reform, saying its costs
will be relatively low.
U.S. economic highlights this week include the meeting of
the Federal Reserve, which is expected to keep interest rates
near zero, and first-quarter GDP numbers.
"The market will be sensitive to any change in the Fed's
language, though I'm not expecting any change," said McAlinden.
"I'm not expecting rates to rise this year, though they will
have to at some point, as they're going up in the emerging
world. We're in a tightening cycle."
(Editing by Mike Nesbit)
