RPT-Telecoms, miners help European shares end higher

                                
 Repeats to add stock symbol
                                
 By Sitaraman Shankar
                                
 LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - European shares ended higher on
Thursday, lifted by telecom stocks and miners, while German
banks gained on consolidation talk and a dip in the price of
crude took energy stocks lower.
                                
 The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares ended 0.33 percent higher at 1,345.11 points,
with telecoms contributing most points to the index.
                                
 Vodafone <VOD.L> gained 3 percent as investors bet on strong
results next week, traders said. Cable & Wireless <CW.L> rose
2.7 percent after it said it was demerging its two divisions.
                                
 Telecom Italia <TLIT.MI> rose 4.6 percent on relief that  a
regulator's ruling on termination rates was less severe than
expected.
                                
 Among banks, Commerzbank <CBKG.DE> gained 2.4 percent and
Deutsche Postbank <DPBGn.DE> rose 1.2 percent on a German
magazine report that Commerzbank and Allianz <ALVG.DE> had bid
10 billion euros ($15.76 billion) for Postbank. Allianz,
however, fell 3.5 percent. 
                                
 Spokesmen from Allianz, Postbank and Commerzbank said on
Thursday they would not comment on speculation.
                                
 Analysts said markets were likely to drift in the short
term.
                                
 "We're likely to be range bound," said John Haynes,
strategist at Rensburg Sheppard Investment Management.
                                
 "A disorderly shrinkage of liquidity is unlikely but the
question is: is there enough gas in the tank to generate much
positive momentum?"
                                
 "I don't see a yawning chasm in earnings, but no positive
surprises either. We're moderately underweight equity risk and
moderately overweight corporate credit risk," he said.
                                
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE <.FTSE> fell 0.3 percent,
Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> gained 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40
<.FCHI> was flat.
                                
 
                                
 BA TAKES OFF, AIR FRANCE GROUNDED
                                
 British Airways <BAY.L> jumped 4.7 percent to top UK gainers
after the British Air Line Pilots' Association said it had
withdrawn court action against the airline, signalling a
potentially costly pilots' strike had been averted.
                                
 But Air France <AIRF.PA>, the world's biggest airline by
revenue, slumped 10 percent after warning that soaring fuel
prices would slash operating profit this year.
                                
 The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> is up 0.6 percent so far for
May, suggesting that a bear market rally which saw it gain 6
percent in April has lost a bit of momentum.
                                
 The index has gained in nine sessions this month but lost
ground for six sessions, as investors worried that spiralling
oil prices would spur inflation, reducing the scope for central
banks to serve up equities-friendly interest rate cuts.
                                
 Thursday finally offered some relief from red-hot crude: oil
traded down $1 a barrel to around $132 after hitting a fresh
record high above $135.
                                
 But crude's dip took heavyweight oil stocks BP <BP.L>, Royal
Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and Total <TOTF.PA> down by 0.4-2.0
percent.
                                
 (Reporting by Sitaraman Shankar; editing by Rory Channing)