Rising crude drives Europe rally

European shares rallied in early trade on Tuesday after a strong performance on Wall Street overnight, while rising crude oil prices boosted shares of energy companies such as BP and Total.

At 0711 GMT The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.7 percent to 1,610.41 points, mirroring sharp gains on the U.S. stock market on Monday.

Brent crude futures held just shy of ten-month highs above $72 a barrel ahead of a possible drop in the U.S. crude stockpile, boosting BP and Total shares by 0.8 percent.

"The oil price is triggering ... concern as we are now well above the $70 a barrel level and, granted, could even advance to $74 a barrel and I doubt that can be passed by without being noticed," said Heino Ruland, a strategist at German brokerage Steubing.

The biggest percentage gainer was German industrial group MAN, whose shares shot up 3.4 percent following an upgrade from Goldman Sachs, traders said.

In other European markets, London's FTSE 100 index rose 0.5 percent, while Frankfurt's DAX added 0.9 percent and Paris' CAC 40 gained 0.8 percent.

One of the biggest negative weights on the broader market was German software company SAP, which fell 0.6 percent after admitting "inappropriate downloads" of documents from U.S. rival Oracle by its TomorrowNow unit.

Meanwhile shares in French food group Danone were suspended in early trade ahead of an expected statement.

Danone shares rose as much as 3.1 percent on Monday as a source familiar with the matter and media reports said the company was looking to sell its biscuit unit.