* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.4 pct, near 6-mth high
* Miners gain as metals prices rise
* LVMH and Hermes rise after LVMH buys stake
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - European shares edged higher on
Monday, led by miners on stronger metals prices, after a Group
of 20 agreement failed to stop the trend of a weaker dollar.
At 0819 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.4 percent at 1,093.89 points, near a
six-month high, after rising 0.4 percent last week. The
benchmark is up more than 69 percent from its lifetime low of
March, 2009, as several countries have emerged from recession,
helped by fiscal stimulus worldwide.
The dollar fell broadly on Monday after a G20 meeting
produced enough agreement despite discordant policies to keep
the status quo on the trade of selling the U.S. currency and
buying stocks and commodities such as gold. []
Gold rose more than 1 percent, off its 2-1/2 week low hit on
Friday. Copper hit a 27-month peak.
Miners that rose included Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP Billiton
<BLT.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata
<XTA.L>, up between 2.5 and 4.2 percent.
A weaker dollar usually boost dollar-denominated metals
prices.
Some analysts played down the importance of the G20 and
emphasised the probability that the U.S. Federal Reserve will
announce further monetary easing next week. Fed chairman Ben
Bernanke may give hints on quantitative easing (QE) in a speech
later in the day.
"They (the G20) talked about competitive devaluation and
decided to have a talk about it another time," said Philip
Isherwood, European equities strategist at Evolution Securities.
"It's about next week in terms of QE. The Fed believes
unemployment is too high and inflation is too low. We should get
QE."
On the miners, Isherwood added: "Profitability and earnings
are going to be up. This is a sector that will have earnings
upgrades. Even if the dollar started to steady, there are supply
constraints."
The mining sector was also boosted by a generally positive
note from Goldman Sachs.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC40 <> rose between 0.5 and 0.8
percent.
EXCHANGES RISE
London Stock Exchange <LSE.L> and Frankfurt stock market
operator Deutsche Boerse <DB1Gn.DE> rose 4.1 and 5.8 percent
respectively after Singapore Exchange's <SGXL.SI> A$8.4 billion
($8.23 billion) takeover bid for ASX Ltd <ASX.AX> signaled
industry consolidation may heat up again.
French luxury goods group LVMH <LVMH.PA> rose 3.4 percent
after saying on Saturday it was buying a minority stake worth
1.45 billion euros in family controlled handbag maker Hermes
<HRMS.PA>, which rose 7.3 percent.
Preferred shares in Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> rose 5.4
percent, after Credit Suisse hiked its share price target to 130
euros from 102 euros, reiterating its "overweight" rating,
following results on Friday. []
However, truck maker Scania <SCVb.ST> fell 6.4 percent after
third-quarter sales grew less than expected, though it posted a
bigger-than-expected rise in pretax earnings.
Italy's Banco Popolare <BAPO.MI> fell 3.7 percent after
approving the launch of a capital increase of up to 2 billion
euros to boost its capital ratios, reimburse government-backed
bonds, and to support lending.
Later in the session, investors' attention will turn to
U.S. homes sales data, giving an indication of the strength of
the recovery in the world's biggest economy.
(Editing by Erica Billingham)
