Euro Shares End Higher; UK Markets Closed for Holiday

European shares closed higher on Monday with Sanofi Aventis leading pharmaceuticals higher after winning a U.S. contract, and some analysts choosing to interpret a leading German economic survey positively.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares rose 0.3 percent to a provisional close of 858.57 points, after two sessions of losses. But trade was thin with UK markets remained closed for a holiday.

Weaker-than-expected readings of the German business sector suggested that the nation's firms continue to struggle. Germany's Ifo said that its business climate index came in at 84.2, lower than forecasts for 85.0.

The reading for current conditions was 82.5, also lower than expectations for 84.0. However, the expectations index came in at 85.9, higher than forecasts for 85.5.

"The thing we can highlight today was the expectations from the Ifo index were up for the fifth consecutive month, and this shows the trend of improving economic sentiment is intact," said Tammo Greetfeld, equity strategist at Unicredit Group in Munich.

Sanofi-Aventis gained 1.9 percent after it won an order from the U.S. government to produce a new influenza vaccine Roche rose 1.6 percent.

But Porsche fell 2.7 percent after the company confirmed media reports that it received a 700 million euro ($979.7 million) loan from Volkswagen to help with its finances.

US markets were also closed on Monday for Memorial Day. Wall Street dropped for a fourth consecutive session on Friday on persistent worries about the budget deficit, with Treasuries and the dollar losing ground.

European shares ended lower on Friday, further cooling a rally that has added a third to stock prices in the past 10 weeks, as defensives and Swiss stocks weighed.

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