month highs in early March. With Europe's first-quarter earnings season having got off to a solid start, some investors said the weakness in stock markets might be an opportunity to buy. "We think stocks have reached multiples that are consistent with declining earnings, too bearish in our view," said Ian Scott, a strategist at Lehman Brothers. "We think the market is close to a bottom." The narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.6 percent to 2,981.0 points. A rise in U.S. markets also supported European shares. Around Europe, London's FTSE 100 and Frankfurt's DAX both closed 0.4 percent higher, while Paris's CAC-40 ended up 0.8 percent. U.S. crude oil futures fell after government data showed domestic crude supplies rose at its highest weekly level since July 1999. --More 2006 Local Time 1706 GMT
