Europe shares hit 15-mth high; oils, miners rise

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.7 percent
                                
 * Heineken rises on acquisition
                                
 * Swiss Life up on talk of Allianz approach
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute stocks news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 
                                
 By Brian Gorman
                                
 LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - European shares hit a new
15-month high in early trade on Monday, with energy companies
and miners among the top performers, after strong trading data
from China boosted sentiment.
                                
 At 0922 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,072.88 points, and had
touched a new 15-month high of 1,074.38.
 The index is up more than 66 percent from its lifetime low
hit in March, with several major economies having emerged from
recession.
                                
 Growth in China's exports and imports last month beat
expectations, providing fresh evidence of the vigour of the
economy. [ID:nSGE60A016]
                                
 A weaker dollar also helped boost the price of oil and
metals.
                                
 Anglo American <AAL.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Eurasian
Natural Resources Corp. <ENRC.L>, Fresnillo <FRES.L>, Kazakhmys
<KAZ.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> rose between 2
and 4.3 percent.
                                
 Energy companies gained as crude prices <CLc1> rose to a
15-month high of more than $83.60 a barrel.
                                
 ENI <ENI.MI>, BP <BP.L>, BG <BG.L> and StatoilHydro <STL.OL>
rose between 1.5 and 2.5 percent.
                                
 "Chinese exports and imports were strong, boosting
expectations for global economic activity," said Bernard
McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers.
                                
 "We're still in a cyclical bull market, though we're coming
out of the rapid gains phase, and into a phase where it's more
discriminating."
                                
 The heavyweight banking sector also helped to boost the
index.
                                
 BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Barclays
<BARC.L>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>,
UBS <UBSN.VX> and UniCredit <CRDI.MI> rose between 0.7 and 1.4
percent.
                                
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, France's CAC40
<.FCHI> and Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> were up between 0.8 and 1
percent, respectively.
                                
 
                                
 HEINEKEN RISES
                                
 Among individual shares, Heineken <HEIN.AS> rose 3.5 percent
after saying it would buy the beer business of Mexico's FEMSA
<FMSAUBD.MX> for 3.8 billion euros ($5.44 billion), giving the
Dutch brewer a top position in the Mexican and Brazilian
markets. [ID:nLDE60A0DL]
                                
 Swiss Life <SLHN.VX> was up 6 percent on media reports it
may attract a bid from Germany's Allianz <ALVG.DE>. Both
companies declined to comment.
                                
Telefonica <TEF.MC> shares fell 2 percent, extending Friday's
decline, on the devaluation of Venezuela's currency.
                                
 U.S. stocks hit 15-month highs on Friday as investors took
the view that the economy losing 85,000 jobs in December did not
signify a break in the trend of economic recovery.
                                
 "Friday's employment report in the United States was
disappointing, but it also means the Fed is unlikely to raise
interest rates soon," said McAlinden.
                                
 Later on Monday, after the close of the U.S. markets,
aluminium producer Alcoa <AA.N> kicks off the fourth-quarter
reporting season. Companies reporting later in the week include
banking giant JP Morgan <JPM.N> and chipmaker Intel <INTC.O>.
 (Editing by Will Waterman)