European shares rise after Asian rally; BP surges

LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - European shares rose in early trade on Tuesday to break a five-day losing streak, helped by a late surge in Asia and a jump in shares of heavyweight oil group BP after its third-quarter earnings beat forecasts. At 0818 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares was up 2.7 percent at 837.89 points. The index has lost 23 percent in October, hurt by a credit crisis and recession worries.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE, Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC-40 .FCHI were up between 2.3 and 4.3 percent. "It's no real surprise that bargain-hunters are coming into these markets, despite the fact that expectations for the economy are tumbling and the outlook on the corporate front is gloomy," said Henk Potts, strategist at Barclays stockbrokers.

"There's too much bad news priced into these markets. Long-term investors can look through the dark clouds...and can see the cheap valuations."

BP rose 6.3 percent after it reported a 148 percent rise in third-quarter replacement cost profit, at $10.03 billion, boosted by higher oil prices.

Total , ENI , and Royal Dutch Shell were up between 3 and 5.2 percent.

UK insurer Aviva rose 10 percent after nine-month sales rose 12 percent.