European shares rise; U.S. data limits gains

* FTSEurofirst 300 index closes 0.7 pct higher

* Banks gain, notably UBS; insurer Prudential soars

* Anheuser-Busch InBev, Aegon decline

By Brian Gorman

LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - European shares closed higher on Thursday after France and Germany unexpectedly reported economic growth, but gains were scaled back after data in the United States was less upbeat.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares rose 0.7 percent to close at 948.58 points, after touching a nine-month intraday high of 956.10 points.

Banks added the most points to the index.

UBS (UBSN.VX) rose 5.4 percent as investors expected the settlement of a damaging U.S. tax dispute to allow the bank to focus on becoming profitable again.

UBS, the world's second-largest wealth manager in terms of managed assets, and the U.S. government on Wednesday settled a long-running dispute over the disclosure of names of wealthy American clients suspected of tax evasion. [ID:nN1296068]

Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), HSBC (HSBA.L), Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) and UniCredit (CRDI.MI) rose between 2.5 and 3.1 percent.

Shares pared gains early in the afternoon after data showed sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in July, while the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week, indicating the recession-hit economy faces a bumpy recovery.[ID:nN13227479]

"The market is willing to look through (negative) data now," said Georgina Taylor, equity strategist at Legal & General Investment Management. "I might have expected to see a bit more red on the screen. There is a belief that we're at the trough."

Earlier, Germany and France boosted the markets by achieving a shock return to economic growth in the second quarter of the year, ending their recessions earlier than many policymakers and economists expected. [ID:nLD331672]

PRUDENTIAL SOARS

Among other financials, Britain's biggest insurer, Prudential (PRU.L) soared 10.7 percent after it reported stronger-than-expected half-year profits and raised its interim dividend. [ID:nLD341084]

Copper prices hit their highest in more than 10 months on economic optimism [ID:nLD456051]. Anglo American (AAL.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L), BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) rose between 2.2 and 4.2 percent.

On the downside, Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) closed 6 percent lower after it said the second half of the year would be significantly weaker. The company reported second-quarter profit above analyst forecasts. [ID:nLD280809]

Dutch insurer Aegon (AEGN.AS) fell 5.9 percent after it reported a surprise second-quarter loss and said it would sell up to 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in stock to partially repay aid it received from the Dutch state. [ID:nLD054344]

Food group Nestle (NESN.VX) fell 2.3 percent after brokerage Chevreux downgraded it to "underperform" from "outperform" and Natixis cut it to "add" from "buy".

The Federal Reserve, in leaving short-term interest rates near zero on Wednesday, said economic activity was levelling out.

"The comments were quite helpful in saying that things are stabilising but they're going to keep policy quite accommodative," said Taylor.

Across Europe, the FTSE 100 .FTSE index ended the day 0.8 percent higher, Germany's DAX .GDAXI rose 1 percent and France's CAC 40 .FCHI was up 0.5 percent.

As European bourses were closing, the Dow Jones .DJI, S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq Composite .IXIC were up between 0.1 and 0.3 percent.

The European benchmark index is up 47 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, as investors have become more confident on the prospects of recovery. (Additional reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by David Holmes)