European shares close higher, led by banks, oils

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Monday, recouping some of last week's steep losses, as banks tracked advances in U.S. financials, while oil stocks were also in demand.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares unofficially closed up 1.7 percent at 828.18 points after touching 805.93 earlier in the session -- its lowest since late April.

Banks were among the top gainers, aided by advances in U.S. financials after influential bank analyst Meredith Whitney upgraded Goldman Sachs to "buy" from "neutral" and provided a reassuring assessement of the sector's performance.

BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Banco Santander (SAN.MC), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), Barclays (BARC.L), Commerzbank (CBKG.DE), UBS (UBSN.VX) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) put on 1.2 percent to 4.8 percent.

"The market has come back a lot. There is a suspicion that this quarter could prove to be slightly better. Earnings estimates have been revised down quite a bit," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at London-based Brewin Dolphin.

Oil producers rode on the coattail of financials and shrugged off weaker crude prices CLc1. BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.AS), Total (TOTF.PA), Repsol (REP.MC) and BG Group (BG.L) were up 1.3 percent to 2.2 percent.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE rose 1.8 percent, Germany's DAX .GDAXI rallied 3.1 percent and France's CAC 40 .FCHI surged 2.3 percent.

The pan-European index lost 3.4 percent last week to notch up a fourth straight week of losses on worries about corporate earnings and the pace of economy recovery. But the benchmark is still up 28 percent from the record low it hit on March 9. (Reporting by Dominic Lau)