* FTSEurofirst 300 closes 1.4 percent higher
* Oil heavyweights gain as crude prices rise
* Food and beverages stocks among top gainers
* Investors await Fed policy-setting meeting on Tuesday
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Optimism that the economy will not slip back into recession lifted European shares on Monday with oil heavyweights gaining following a jump in crude prices.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose 1.4 percent to close at 1,087.38 points. The index has gained nearly 6 percent in September but is 2.5 percent below a peak hit in April.
Energy companies such as Total, ENI, BG Group and Royal Dutch Shell rose 2.1-2.9 percent as crude prices rose 2 percent to more than $75 a barrel on expectations inventories may have fallen and helped by a weaker dollar.
BP rose 2.1 percent after saying it had permanently sealed the Gulf of Mexico oil well that caused the worst ever U.S. oil spill.
"Markets have continued to focus on cyclical support. We know that monetary policy is going to be extremely accommodative," said Bill Dinning, head of strategy at Aegon Asset Management in Edinburgh.
"It's when the market focuses on some of the hangovers like European sovereign debt we have problems. For now I think the cyclical is trumping the structural. But there's not a lot of conviction. Getting out of that range marked by the highs of April might be a challenge."
Gold hit a record high for the fourth day in succession. Strategists expect interest rates to stay low and limit the opportunity cost of holding gold. Randgold Resources rose 1.5 percent.
Food and beverages shares were among the top gainers. Suedzucker, Europe's largest sugar maker, rose 4.5 percent after it posted a 5 percent rise in first-half revenue. Unilever rose 3 percent.
UK food retailers J Sainsbury, Wm Morrison Supermarkets and Tesco rose between 2.1 and 2.5 percent after analysts at Bernstein said the European food retail sector re-rating has further to go as food inflation continues to accelerate.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC40 rose between 1.4 and 1.8 percent.
Wall Street was higher around the time European bourses were closing. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up between 1 and 1.1 percent.
SGS RISES
Testing and inspection services company SGS rose 5.4 percent after the company said it is targeting sales of 8 billion Swiss francs ($7.9 billion) by 2014.
Some investors stayed cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting on Tuesday. Policymakers need to decide if and when to launch further large-scale asset purchases to support the sluggish recovery.
The Fed is expected to renew a promise to keep its portfolio from shrinking but is not seen taking new steps to ease monetary policy.
"The Fed will try to reassure the market that there will be sufficient liquidity. If you need to stimulate markets in the current environment, you can do a lot of things, but you cannot afford to cause a real deflationary cycle on assets again," said Luc Van Hecka, chief economist at KBC Securities.
The emergency loan vehicle set up by euro zone countries to contain the region's sovereign debt problems will probably not need to be activated despite the steep rise in some bond spreads, its chief executive said. (Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by David Cowell)