European shares advance powered by banks (Reuters) (01-04-2008)

LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Tuesday following an announcements from UBS, which is planning to offset writedowns by raising money through rights issues, sending its shares up 6 percent.

UBS posted $19 billion in additional writedowns and said it was transferring the troubled portions of the bank into a separate unit.

The rally in its shares helped offset a decline in oil and energy shares after crude oil futures CLc1 fell more than 4 percent since Friday.

By 0844 GMT the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1.4 percent at 1,279.72 points.

The DJ Stoxx index of European banks was up nearly 2 percent. Barclays rose 3.7 percent, Credit Suisse gained 4.3 percent and BNP Paribas rose 2.1 percent.

A modest tightening in European credit spreads helped support the broader market.

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 Source: Reuters