RPT-Shares, euro hit highs on Spain bank aid request

LONDON Dec 3 (Reuters) - European shares and the euro climbed to new highs on Monday and German Bund futures pared losses after Spain formally asked for European funds to recapitalise its banking sector.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.8 percent at 1,127.82 points at 1301 GMT after rising to 1,127.87, the highest level since July 2011.

The euro rose to a fresh six-week high against the dollar of $1.3075 from $1.3045 after Spain made the request.

German Bund futures pared losses to last trade 50 ticks lower on the day at 142.29, having traded as low as 142.07 before the announcement.

"It was really only a matter of time before the ... request came," said Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets.

"Obviously it's positive news, there's nothing negative coming out so in the absence of negative news I think the bias is definitely to the upside."