* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 1.9 pct
* BNP Paribas, HSBC lead banks higher
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - European shares hit a three-month
high on Monday morning, with HSBC <HSBA.L> and France's BNP
Paribas <BNPP.PA> leading banks up after their results beat
forecasts.
At 0851 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 1.9 percent at 1,063.70 points, and had
hit its highest point since early May. The index gained 5
percent in July, its first monthly gain since March.
The European benchmark is up more than 64 percent from its
lifetime low of March 9, 2009.
HSBC <HSBA.L> rose 4.5 percent after half-year profit more
than doubled from a year ago as bad debts fell sharply
[].
The STOXX Europe 600 Banking Index <.SX7P> extended gains
after HSBC's results, and was up 2.7 percent, having already
been positive on BNP's results.
BNP Paribas, France's biggest listed bank, rose 4.3 percent
after posting higher-than-expected second-quarter net profit
thanks to lower loan provisions and strong retail banking,
despite volatile financial market conditions.
"The earnings season is doing the trick," said Heino Ruland,
strategist at Ruland Research in Frankfurt. "The results are
better than expected."
"Markets are reluctantly moving higher. But there is a
question of whether we have a problem in the United States, as a
double dip cannot be ruled out."
Other banks to gain included Barclays <BARC.L>, Credit
Agricole <CAGR.PA>, Lloyds <LLOY.L> and Societe Generale
<SOGN.PA>, up between 2.7 and 4 percent.
Greek bank shares <.FTATBNK> rose 5 percent, helped by
continuing merger talk.
The mining sector was another major gainer, though the
market's rally was broadly-based.
Copper and other metals rose, as the dollar index <.DXY> hit
a three-month low.
Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP Billiton
<BLT.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L>
rose between 3.1 and 4.4 percent.
Total <TOTF.PA> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, up 2.4 and
1.9 percent respectively, were among oil companies to gain as
crude prices <CLc1> rose.
LINDE RISES
Among other companies reporting results, Germany's Linde
<LING.DE>, the world's number 2 industrial gases maker, rose 2.5
percent after posting better-than-expected operating profit in
the second quarter, buoyed by the economic recovery worldwide.
Bigger rival Air Liquide <AIRP.PA> rose 0.6 percent after it
reported revenue growth accelerated between the first and second
quarters, notably thanks to emerging markets.
German industrial conglomerate Siemens <SIEGn.DE> rose 2.3
percent higher after Credit Suisse hiked its target price in the
company to 96 euros from 80 euros. []
Dutch delivery group TNT NV <TNT.AS> fell 4.8 percent after
it posted lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings, dragged
down by costs in its expanding express division.
In macroeconomics, euro zone manufacturing growth
accelerated in July largely thanks to strongly performing German
factories, according to a survey on Monday that showed diverging
fortunes across the bloc's economies.
China's manufacturing sector cooled further in July, even
shrinking by one measure, but markets took the news as a sign of
a desired slowdown rather than a harbinger of a slump that could
derail global recovery.
Wall Street closed little changed on Friday, recovering from
a fall after second-quarter GDP data raised concerns about the
strength of the economic recovery.
(Editing by Mike Nesbit)
