European shares rose early on Monday to trade near a 5-1/2-year high, with financial stocks helping the market after global banking regulators eased a new bank rule on leverage to aid the global economy, according to Reuters. The STOXX Europe 600 banking index rose 1.1 percent to the top of the sectoral gainers' list after Sunday's decision on the new rules, which are meant to rein in risky balance sheets from 2018. At 0810 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.3 percent at 1,324.67 points after setting a new high since mid-2008 on Friday.