LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - European shares hit a 29-month closing high on Monday, with miners up after Chinese trade data highlighted strong demand for raw material and as talk of easing inflation in the country capped fears of further tightening.
Gains, however, were kept in check by falls in heavyweight banking stocks ahead of corporate results from sector due this week, including from Societe Generale and BNP Paribas which shed 1 and 1.2 percent respectively.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares provisionally closed 0.3 percent higher at 1,177.96 points, its highest closing level since September 2008.
Miners in the STOXX Europe 600 basic resources index rose 1.5 percent as copper prices neared all-time highs after data showed a fall in China's trade surplus, with surprisingly strong imports notably of copper.
"The import data reaffirms the growth story in China and helps to give confidence in mining companies that interest rate hikes are not going to suppress metal demand in the medium term," said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.
Cementing expectations of a pickup in merger & acquisition activity, British energy services firm John Wood Group surged 13.6 percent after plans by U.S. conglomerate General Electric to buy a unit of the company for $2.8 billion. (Reporting by Harpreet Bhal)