LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - European shares rose for a seventh consecutive session early on Monday as concerns eased over the fiscal situation in Greece, with banks featuring among the biggest gainers, though drugmakers came under pressure.
By 0808 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.1 percent at 1,055.53 points.
Banks featured among the biggest movers on the index. Banco Santander, BBVA, UniCredit and Barclays gained 0.6 to 1.5 percent. "The market is a little more positive, buoyed by what happened in the United States on Friday with the non-farm payroll figures," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management.
"There is also a view that while Europe has not resolved its problems, the worst of what has happened to Greece has passed for the moment ... but, that is not to say it can not come back."
Central bank governor George Provopoulos said in a German newspaper interview released on Monday that Greece will not need foreign help to deal with its debt problems.
Drugmakers were the major losers, with AstraZeneca down 0.6 percent after it said its cancer drug Recentin failed in a head-to-head late stage trial with Roche's Avastin on colorectal cancer patients. (Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by David Holmes)