STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Shares stay up as U.S. rises

European shares remain higher after the start of trading on Wall Street, where sentiment is boosted by CIT Group CIT.N clinching a financing deal that will help it avoid bankruptcy.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares is up 1.5 percent at 883.71 points, rising for the sixth straight day.

Banks add most to the index, with Banco Santander (SAN.MC), HSBC (HSBA.L), Lloyds (LLOY.L) and UniCredit (CRDI.MI) up between 2.1 and 6.3 percent. CIT Group clinched a deal that could help it avoid bankruptcy, removing some uncertainty as the financial sector recovers from a deep crisis.

The Dow Jones .DJI, S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq Composite .IXIC are up between 0.5 and 0.7 percent in early trading.

Leading indicators data for June is due at 1400 GMT.

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