European shares hit 2-month high; earnings to help

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.3 pct, gains for 8th straight day
                                
 * Equities show knee-jerk reaction to bin Laden's death
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 By Atul Prakash
                                
 LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - European shares hit a two-month
high in holiday-thinned trade on Monday on optimism the earnings
season will stay strong in the near-term and in a knee-jerk
reaction to news al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed.
                                
 Bin Laden's death in a shootout with U.S. forces in Pakistan
on Sunday ended a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the
mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and prompted equity investors
to believe global risk threats might reduce. [ID:nN02183671]
                                
 Although analysts said that the positive impact of the news
might be short-lived and focus will soon shift back to economic
fundamentals and company earnings.
                                
 At 0735 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was up 0.3 percent at 1,160.03 points after
touching 1,162.05, the highest since early March. The Euro STOXX
50 <.STOXX50E> -- an index of the euro zone's top blue chips --
was up 0.3 percent at 3,021.50 points.
                                
 The UK stock market was closed for a holiday.
                                
 "It's a psychological and knee-jerk reaction and we have to
see how long it lasts," said Koen De Leus, strategist at KBC
Securities, referring to the news of bin Laden's death.
                                
 "The market is also getting support from earnings, which are
good. We have some important economic figures this week that
might set the near-term direction."
                                
 Investors awaited the release of the U.S. Institute for
Supply Management's manufacturing index at 1400 GMT, U.S.
jobless claims figures on Thursday and non-farm payrolls numbers
on Friday.
                                
 Across Europe, France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> gained 0.5 percent,
while Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> rose 0.9 percent to its highest
level in more than three years. 
                                
 "Last week and this week taken together, more than two
thirds of the DAX companies will report. In these two weeks, the
chances for a test of the equity market's leeway on the upside
will be better than in the weeks to come," said Tammo Greetfeld,
equity strategist at UniCredit in Munich.
                                
 "Going forward, the newsflow is unlikely to live to high
expectations given a number of burdening factors that have
accumulated," he said, referring to factors such as a rise in
oil prices, more and more central banks raising interest rates,
cyclical indicators which are past their peak, the catastrophe
in Japan and the euro zone debt crisis.
                                
 Among individual movers, Demag Cranes <D9CGn.DE> surged 22
percent after U.S. crane maker Terex <TEX.N> said it would
launch a takeover offer for its German rival in an 884 million
euro ($1.31 billion) bid. [ID:nLDE7410AV]
                                
 Danish food ingredients and enzymes maker Danisco <DCO.CO>
gained 4.3 percent after its board of directors unanimously
recommended that Danisco shareholders accept DuPont's <DD.N>
improved offer for Danisco. [ID:nLDE7410BX]
                                
 On the downside, Actelion <ATLN.VX> fell 5 percent after the
company said it may appeal against a jury's decision in a
Californian court to award Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation
<3407.T> up to $547 million in a dispute with Actelion unit
CoTherix. [ID:nLDE7400EO]
                                
 TNT <TNT.AS> was down 3.8 percent after reporting a worse
than expected performance in its mail unit, adding to woes in
its global express division. [ID:nTOPEQE]
 (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)