Europe shares hit 14-month high on home sales data

A gong is pictured in the middle of the Frankfurt stock exchange as traders work at their desks in front of the DAX board December 14, 2009.

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares extended gains and reached a 14-month high on Tuesday afternoon after better-than-expected U.S. home sales data for November.

At 1514 GMT (10:14 a.m. EST), the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 1 percent at 1,037.83 points, and had reached 1,038.54, the highest since Oct 6, 2008.

Energy companies gained, even as crude prices fell back 0.6 percent to $73.30 a barrel. Total (TOTF.PA), BP (BP.L) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) rose between 1.5 and 2.5 percent.

The Dow Jones .DJI, S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq Composite .IXIC were up between 0.5 and 0.6 percent.

Sales of previously owned homes in the United States surged last month as prices continued to fall and buyers rushed to take advantage of a popular tax credit, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said.

(Reporting by Brian Gorman)