* FTSEurofirst 300 index up 0.9 percent
* Mining, energy firms gain as copper and crude rise * For up-to-the minute market news, click on
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Strong earnings helped lift European shares to a 29-month high on Monday, while oil and mining stocks also provided support on rising commodity prices.
At 1135 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.9 percent at 1,175.20 points, having touched 1,177.93 -- the highest level since early September 2008. The European benchmark is up more than 82 percent from a record low in March 2009, with several major economies having emerged from recession, helped by stimulus from governments and central banks worldwide.
Yet it has regained barely half the ground lost in falling from a peak in 2007 to that 2009 low.
"There's an absence of bad news and markets can climb the wall of worry," said Andy Lynch, fund manager at Schroders. "People are saying Europe is going to sort itself out, with work going on in the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility)."
Randgold Resources rose 2.9 percent after posting a 43 percent rise in full-year profit and announcing plans to increase its dividend by 18 percent, after gold price gains more than offset a fall in production.
Other miners to rise included Rio Tinto, Vedanta and Xstrata, up between 2 and 4 percent, as copper reached a record high.
Miners such as Xstrata, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are expected to post strong results over the next two weeks, boosted by surging iron ore and copper prices.
The energy sector rose as North Sea Brent crude oil futures jumped above $100 a barrel on worries unrest in Egypt could spread in the Middle East and north Africa, disrupting supplies.
BP and Royal Dutch Shell rose 1.3 and 1.4 percent respectively.
SolarWorld soared 10 percent after posting a 2010 operating profit above expectations and proposing a higher dividend, boosting its shares.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC40 rose between 0.7 and 1 percent.
NOKIA TARGETS
Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones by volume, rose 2.7 percent after a report over the weekend that it planned a management shake-up and would unveil financial and strategy targets this week.
French bank Credit Agricole rose 4.4 percent on a report it would not need to raise extra cash to help it meet Basel III capital adequacy rules.
France's two biggest banks, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, rose 2.4 and 1.7 percent respectively.
An index tracking investor sentiment in the euro zone surged to a three-and-a-half year high in February, according to a survey published by the Sentix research group.
However, German industrial orders fell 3.4 percent on the month in December, held back by weak demand for capital goods, though the overall upwards trend in orders remained intact, the Economy Ministry said.
"We're looking at a continuation of the move last week," said Giles Watts, head of equities at City Index.
"At the moment, clients are feeling any dips can be bought into, and the trend is an upward one. I can't see that being thrown off course in the short term."
(Additional reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by David Hulmes)