European shares rose on Monday, with energy stocks in focus after a rise in oil prices, while the dollar lifted off four-month lows it had reached on concern over the U.S. economy, Reuters reported. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 stocks index opened down but quickly recovered and was last up 0.6 percent, led higher by commodity stocks. Brent crude rose $1 to near $68 a barrel as violence in Iraq and Yemen outweighed concerns about oversupply. Asian shares had earlier fallen as investors fretted that weak U.S. data on Friday suggested growth was slowing in the world's largest economy. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, fell 0.7 percent, though Tokyo's Nikkei closed 0.8 percent higher. Britain's FTSE 100 index, which includes several heavyweight mining stocks, was up 0.5 percent. The dollar rose 0.7percent, while the euro, which touched its highest since early February on Friday, was down half a percent at $1.1395. The yen was down 0.4 percent at 119.71 per dollar. Gold hit its highest since February in reaction to the U.S. data before pulling back to $1,227.86.
