European shares close higher, led by Philips

* FTSEurofirst 300 closes 0.7 percent higher

* Forecast-beating results from Philips boost sentiment

* Heavyweight pharmas among major gainers

By Brian Gorman

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - European stocks closed higher on Monday, as Dutch giant Philips helped reinforce investor confidence in the third-quarter earnings season, still in its early stages.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares rose 0.7 percent to 1,005.37 points, the highest close since Sept. 23.

The European benchmark index is up 56 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, as investors have become more confident on the prospects of economic recovery.

Philips surged 7.7 percent after posting better than expected third-quarter results, as the world's biggest lighting maker and Europe's biggest consumer electronics producer benefited from cost-cutting measures. [ID:nLC210070]

"The results of companies like Phillips are important, and other corporates are also reporting decent profits," said Franz Wenzel, strategist at AXA Investment Managers, in Paris. "It's on the basis of restructuring, but that's not a big problem at this juncture. It's helping to push the market higher.

"The main reasons for the stock market rally are still in place. The macroeconomics are improving. And, importantly, we still have ample liquidity," he said.

Shares of tech companies and conglomerates gained ground, with Siemens and Nokia up 2.6 percent and 2.2 percent respectively.

Alcatel-Lucent rose 5.1 percent, helped by a rating upgrade from Societe Generale which upgraded its recommendation on the stock to 'hold' from 'sell'.

Around Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index <.FTSE> closed 0.9 percent higher, Germany's DAX index <.GDAXI> rose 1.3 percent, and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> was up 1.2 percent.

Wall Street was higher around the time European bourses were closing, though trading was subdued on Columbus Day, with no major economic data released.

The Dow Jones <.DJI>, S&P 500 <.SPX> and Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> were up 0.5-0.6 percent.

Earnings were due later in the week from several U.S. bellwethers Intel Corp , Johnson & Johnson , Citigroup , Bank of America , Goldman Sachs , JPMorgan , Google and General Electric .

PHARMAS GAIN

The heavyweight pharmaceutical sector, one of the poorer performers since March, gained. GlaxoSmithKline , Novartis , Roche and Sanofi-Aventis rose 1.4-2.4 percent.

Most banks were higher. Banco Santander , Deutsche Bank , and UBS were up 1.1-2.1 percent. The banking sector <.SX7P>, which had a dismal 2008, has jumped nearly 170 percent since the market bottomed in early March.

But two British banks bucked the trend.

Lloyds fell 2.5 percent after people familiar with the matter said it has lined up six investment banks to run a rights issue expected to be worth over 10 billion pounds ($15.9 billion) as the lender seeks to cut its reliance on the government. [ID:nLC354416]

Barclays fell 1.2 percent. The Financial Times reported it was planning to spin off a 4-billion-pound portfolio of complex credit assets in a bid to further clean up its balance sheet.

Oil companies gained ground as crude oil futures rose 2.5 percent to more than $73 a barrel.

Total , BP and Royal Dutch Shell rose 1.3-1.8 percent.

Among other individual shares, Vodafone rose 1.6 percent, rebounding after falls last week helped by reassuring comments from Deutsche Bank which repeated its 'buy' rating on the mobile telecoms heavyweight.

Dutch brewer Heineken fell 3.3 percent after UBS downgraded it to 'neutral' from 'buy'. (Additional reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Dan Lalor