* FTSEurofirst 300 <> index rises 3.5 percent
* Index up 19.5 percent from March 9 low
* Banks, commodities and autos lead gains
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - European shares rose sharply
early on Thursday on hopes that the economic downturn is
moderating, with investors training their sights on the G20
summit meeting in London and a European Central Bank rate
decision.
At 0817 GMT the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 3.5 percent at 771.34 points, on track
for its third straight day of gains.
Banks, commodity and auto stocks were the top gainers,
boosted by better than feared U.S. home sales, factory and auto
data.
Barclays <BARC.L>, BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, HSBC <HSBA.L>,
Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>, UBS <UBSN.VX> and UniCredit
<CRDI.MI> rose between 4.4 and 8.3 percent.
Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> rose 7.6 percent after its chief
executive said in a newspaper interview that the bank had solid
results in March and did not need additional capital.
G20 leaders have gathered in London to tackle the global
financial crisis and France and Germany have demanded they act
fast on promises to prevent a repeat of the worst economic
crisis since the 1930s. []
A draft communique obtained by Reuters included a pledge to
deliver "the scale of sustained effort necessary to restore
growth" without making any commitments beyond the trillions
already being spent to stabilise banks, shore up demand and
limit job losses.
"We think the policy effort will work," said Bernard
McAlinden, strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in London. "But there
will continue to be volatility in markets."
Other analysts said they had few expectations for the
meeting.
"I would expect a bland statement of the least common
denominator and expectations shouldn't be set too high. They
can't agree details of a banking regulatory system -- that would
take years to work out," said Justin Urquhart Stewart,
investment director at Seven Investment Management.
"There will be greater focus on hedge funds -- they are the
easiest targets, but controlling offshore centres is like
nailing down floorboards -- hit one and the other comes up."
Across Europe Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC-40 <> were up between 3.2 and
3.9 percent.
MINERS GAIN
Analysts expect the ECB to take euro zone interest rates
down to an all-time low of 1.0 percent when the bank announces
its decision at 1145 GMT.
While this could be the ECB's last rate cut for some time,
it looks likely to tweak its overnight deposit rate -- the rate
currently setting the bar in money markets -- to avoid driving
interbank rates too low.
Miners rose as copper prices <MCU3=LX> hit five-month highs,
buoyed by hopes of economic recovery.
Anglo American <AAL.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Lonmin
<LMI.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Vedanta Resources <VED.L> and
Xstrata <XTA.L> rose between 4.1 and 5.8 percent.
Oils gained as crude prices <CLc1> rose more than 3 percent
to more than $49 a barrel.
Total <TOTF.PA>, ENI <ENI.MI>, BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell
<RDSa.L> and Repsol <REP.MC> rose between 1.7 and 2.6 percent.
Automakers rose after a report said U.S. auto sales fell 37
percent in March, a smaller than expected drop that encouraged
hope that the world's largest car market is nearing a bottom
after a freefall that has pulled the industry into a deepening
crisis. []
Daimler <DAIGn.DE>, Peugeot <PEUP.PA>, Porsche <PSHG_p.DE>,
Renault <RENA.PA> and BMW <BMWG.DE> rose between 6.4 and 10.3
percent.
Swiss Re <RUKN.VX>, the world's second-larger reinsurer,
rose 5.4 percent after saying it plans to cut 10 percent of its
workforce over the next 12 months in a bid to cut costs by 400
million Swiss francs ($349.6 million) by 2010.
Allianz <ALVG.DE>, Aviva <AV.L>, AXA <AXAF.PA>, Legal &
General <LGEN.L> were up between 5.3 and 9.8 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 has risen 19.5 percent since hitting a
lifetime low on March 9, but is still down 7.3 percent in 2009,
hurt by a banking crisis and several major economies in
recession.
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
