* FTSEurofirst 300 <> rises 1.3 percent
* UBS extends recent gains as tax dispute settled
* Oils, miners gain, tracking crude, metals prices
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - European shares hit a new high for
2009 on Monday, with banks rising as UBS <UBSN.VX> appeared to
have avoided a fine in its tax dispute with the U.S. and after
results from HSBC <HSBA.L> and Barclays <BARC.L>.
At 0856 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 1.3 percent at 940.63 points, and had
risen as high as 940.84, the highest since November.
The European benchmark index is up more than 45 percent from
its lifetime low of March 9, as second-quarter corporate results
have made investors a little more confident on recovery
prospects.
HSBC rose 5.5 percent after profits halved from a year ago
but were ahead of forecasts. []
Barclays rose 4 percent after it reported an 8 percent rise
in half-year profit, though bad debts at Britain's second
biggest bank almost doubled. []
"The (Barclays) numbers this morning shows a continuing
steady hand at the helm from the same management team that took
the key decisions to see Barclays through the crisis," said Ed
Woolfitt, Head of Trading at Galvan Research, in a note.
"The numbers have also been delivered in a continuously
challenging environment, but are largely in line, with no great
surprises. "
UBS rose 4.1 percent on reports it may not have to pay a
fine as part a settlement of a dispute with the U.S. Government
on wealthy Americans suspected of using the Swiss bank to evade
taxes. UBS, which reports second-quarter results on Tuesday,
rose 3.9 percent on Friday following initial news of the
settlement.
BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, Societe
Generale <SOGN.PA> and UniCredit <CRDI.MI> rose between 2 and
2.5 percent.
MINERS, OILS GAIN
A weaker dollar helped to boost the price of crude <CLc1>
above $70 a barrel, and also pushed up copper and other metals.
BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.AS> and StatoilHydro
<STL.OL> were up between 1 and 2 percent.
Among miners, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>,
BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L>
rose between 2.2 and 4.7 percent.
French car maker Renault <RENA.PA> roe 6 percent after HSBC
upgraded its rating to "overweight" from "neutral" and raised
its price target to 40 euros from 12 euros.
"The outlook for H2 2009 looks strong, despite
weaker-than-expected H1 2009 earnings; a low base and fresh
model pipeline will lead to improvement in 2010," said HSBC
analysts in a note.
Germany's Metro <MEOG.DE>, the world's fourth-largest
retailer, fell 2.3 percent after saying it expected retail sales
to fall further in coming months, though its second-quarter
underlying operating earnings were better than expected.
[]
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC-40 <> were up between 1.1 and 1.3
percent.
Wall Street looked set to extend recent gains. Futures for
the Dow Jones <DJc1>, S&P 500 <SPc1> and Nasdaq <NDc1> were up
between 0.8 and 1 percent.
Later in the week, investors' attention will shift to
interest rate and policy decisions from the Bank of England and
the European Central Bank, and to non-farm U.S. payrolls data.
(Editing by Will Waterman)
