* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 3 percent to one-month closing high
* Financials jump on U.S. plan on toxic bank assets
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - European shares rose to their
highest close in more a month on Monday, tracking a surge on
Wall Street sparked by a plan to cleanse banks' toxic assets and
by better-than-expected home sales figures.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
rose 3 percent to 739.52 points, its highest close since Feb. 19
and its third straight gain.
Banks added most points. BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Banco
Santander <SAN.MC>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Deutsche Bank <DBGKn.DE>,
HSBC <HSBA.L> and UniCredit <CRDI.MI> closed 4.6-15.7 percent
higher.
Wall Street was sharply higher at the time European bourses
were closing. The Dow Jones <>, S&P 500 <.SPX> and Nasdaq
Composite <> were up 3.8-4.6 percent.
Shares rose on a U.S. government plan to purge banks of up
to $1 trillion of toxic assets, a key element of a government
drive to pull the world's biggest economy out of a deep
recession. []
"It's one more step in this long story but it will not be
the last step," said Romain Boscher, head of equity management
at Groupama Asset Management, in Paris. "We still think it will
be necessary to nationalise some more banks."
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose at their fastest
pace in nearly six years in February, data showed on Monday,
providing a further boost for the recession-hit economy.
[]
A plunge in U.S. house prices was the main cause of the
crisis in the mortgage-backed securities market that sparked a
banking crisis, and helped to tip several major economies into
recession.
However, analysts were split on the significance of the
data. "They had fallen so far they couldn't go any lower," said
Boscher.
The rise for banks extended to some trading outside the
FTSEurofirst 300 <> on Monday, as the index's quarterly
reshuffle took effect. Commerzbank <CBKG.DE> and Alpha Bank
<ACBr.AT> finished 9.5 and 9.2 percent higher respectively.
The index has risen 14.6 percent since hitting a lifetime
low on March 9, but is still down 11 percent in 2009, having
fallen 45 percent in 2008.
INSURERS DOUBLE
Some insurers have doubled since hitting multi-year lows on
March 9. This includes Legal & General <LGEN.L> up 4.9 percent
on Monday, ahead of results on Wednesday.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> were up 2.7-2.9 percent.
Sentiment also got a boost after European Central Bank
President Jean-Claude Trichet said the bank could cut interest
rates further, but added its deposit rate was already at very
low levels and it could use more non-conventional measures to
help the troubled banking system.
Commodity shares rose in line with the broader market rally
and a jump in crude and metals prices. Copper <MCU3> traded more
than 2 percent higher, and crude rose 3.4 percent to more than
$53 a barrel, and hit a 2009 peak.
Among miners, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>,
Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <STA.L> and rose 4.2-13 percent.
Oil companies BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.AS> and
StatoilHydro <STL.OL> added 2.6-3.7 percent.
Daimler <DAIGn.DE> rose 1.4 percent after an Abu Dhabi fund
became its top shareholder, but analysts fear the deal may mean
the German carmaker is having a tougher time than previously
thought. []
Vodafone <VOD.L> and Telefonica <TEF.MC> rose 0.2 and 2.1
percent respectively after agreeing to share network
infrastructure in four European countries to meet surging demand
for mobile broadband, while saving hundreds of millions of
pounds in costs. []
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Dan Lalor)
