* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.7 percent
* BASF rises after upbeat statement
* Kingfisher, Next gain after results
* Traders say Portugal bailout priced in
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By Brian Gorman
LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - European shares rose to their highest levels in almost two weeks on Thursday, with two British retailers leading the sector up as their profits rose, though some caution remained over the euro zone sovereign debt crisis.
At 1153 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,120.31 points after hitting 1,121.97, its highest level since March 11.
After falling more than 10 percent between mid-February and mid-March on Japan's crisis and hostilities in the Middle East, the index is on course to gain for the fifth session in six.
Europe's biggest home improvement retailer Kingfisher and fashion chain Next rose 8.5 and 5.9 percent respectively after both companies met profit expectations and hiked their dividends, a day after upbeat results from Spanish peer Inditex
Middle East tension "although disquieting is not a game changer," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, strategist at Charles Stanley. "The consensus on Japan is that rebuilding will be supportive for the Japanese economy in the medium term, and estimates of global growth rates don't need adjusting too much."
However, he added: "Gains will be limited as inflationary pressure is everywhere and it will have an impact on corporate profit margins. And it looks as though another domino (Portugal) in the euro zone is going to fall.
Traders said a bailout for highly indebted Portugal was largely priced in as its prime minister resigned following parliament's rejection of the government's austerity measures.
"This turnaround (from earlier losses) in the Portuguese stock market shows the market had already priced in this scenario of the prime minister's resignation and political instability," said Juan Dieste, trader at Orey iTrade in Lisbon, adding that low volumes exacerbated moves.
However, political instability is likely to prevent European Union leaders from taking tough decisions to deal with the bloc's debt troubles at a summit which begins on Thursday.
"If Portugal is going to require some loans from the (EU) funding facility the risk is that, if there is some difficulty somewhere else, the facility is going to be exhausted," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin.
An EU official said member states were putting pressure on Lisbon to request help, concerned that continued resistance would endanger the stability of the 17-country euro zone, but said no talks on a bailout had begun.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC40 rose between 1 and 1.7 percent.
BASF GAINS
Among other individual companies, chemicals heavyweight BASF rose 2.8 percent after the group said it expects first-quarter sales and core earnings to be higher this year than last.
Cable & Wireless Worldwide slumped 13.7 percent to its lowest since the company was formed in a demerger at the start of 2010 as it downgraded expectations for core earnings next year.
Traders said investors were buying companies on attractive valuations in Europe, following a 3.1 percent dip on the index last week.
"Markets were extremely volatile in the last few weeks and there are sectors such as insurers and energy that look like good buys at the moment after taking a big hit," said Scott Reinert, sales trader at IG Index.
Thomson Reuters Datastream showed the STOXX Europe 600 carrying a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 10.2, below a 10-year average of 13.6.
U.S. data due later includes weekly jobless numbers and durable goods orders. (Additional reporting by Harro ten Wolde in Frankfurt and Patricia Rua in Lisbon; Editing by Hans Peters)