Euro hits four-year low versus dollar; BP shares advance By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares advanced on Monday, boosted by gains for oil producers and banks, although ongoing worries about the future of the region's economy sent the euro to a four-year low against the dollar. After a 4.8% rise last week, the Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:SXXP 249.71, +1.25, +0.50%) rose 0.8% to 250.47. Oil producers were helping advance, with oil giant BP (UK:BP. 536.00, +5.80, +1.09%) (BP 46.58, -0.29, -0.62%) up 2.8% after it provided investors with some hope that it's starting to control an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP said over the weekend that it was able to reroute some oil. Read more on BP. Rival Royal Dutch Shell (UK:RDSA 1,862, +8.50, +0.46%) (RDS.A 53.71, -0.72, -1.32%) rose 0.9%. The oil giant was upgraded to overweight from neutral at J.P. Morgan, which said investor concerns about exploration over the Macondo well incident in the Gulf of Mexico are "masking long-term commodity positives." Both firms trade in the U.K. FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,297, +34.13, +0.65%) , which was up 1% at 5,315.89. The German DAX index (DX:DAX 6,121, +63.44, +1.05%) rose 1.3% to 6,134.75, while the French CAC-40 index (FR:PX1 3,569, +8.82, +0.25%) climbed 0.5% to 3,577.35. Asian shares ended lower while U.S. stocks posted mild gains in early trading on Wall Street. Worries about Europe's economic prospects slammed stocks in Europe and the U.S. on Friday. Last week had started with big gains after the European Union and the IMF arranged a 750 billion euro aid package to support some of the more vulnerable European economies. However, the package hasn't managed to completely offset investor concerns about the long-term future of the region, and the euro (CUR_EURUSD 1.2343, -0.0011, -0.0891%) traded at a four-year low against the dollar on Monday. It managed to edge higher by the afternoon and was trading up 0.1% at $1.2378. Stocks in some peripheral equity markets were weak as well, with the Greek ASE Composite Index (XX:COMPO 1,658, -58.51, -3.41%) down 1.8% at 1,629.25. "The market appears unconvinced that the euro area's €750 billion bailout plan can readily resolve the debt, deficit and depression conundrum it faces," said strategists at ING. However, they believe the aid is good news for stocks overall and "expect to see renewed gains once the crisis eases." "Supports include cheap cyclically adjusted valuations, an ongoing upgrade cycle reflecting global recovery, sustained low interest rates and the financial health of the non-financial sector. The euro's weakness is also a boon to Europe's exporters," they added. Exporters advancing on Monday included automaker BMW (DE:BMW 38.84, +0.09, +0.22%) , up 1.4%, and industrial conglomerate Siemens (DE:SIE 75.04, +1.03, +1.39%) (SI 92.52, +0.46, +0.50%) , up 2.2%. Banks were also broadly putting in a better performance, with shares of Standard Chartered (UK:STAN 1,699, +76.50, +4.72%) up 5.3% and Credit Suisse (CH:CSGN 47.40, +0.86, +1.85%) (CS 41.68, +0.51, +1.24%) shares up 2.2%. Cross-region deal making also provided a focus on Monday, with shares of life insurer Prudential (UK:PRU 537.50, -5.00, -0.92%) (PUK 15.55, -0.29, -1.83%) down 0.6% to 539 pence. The firm launched its delayed share sale to finance the acquisition of AIG's (AIG 38.91, -0.81, -2.04%) Asian business, AIA. Prudential said shareholders will be able to buy 11 new shares for every two they already own at a price of 104 pence a share. The rights issue had been delayed while the company sought approval from the U.K. Financial Services Authority for the capital raising. Prudential is paying $35.5 billion for AIA, including $25 billion in cash. Read more on Prudential. Shares of hedge-fund manager Man Group (UK:EMG 201.90, -19.60, -8.85%) dropped 7.6% after it said it has agreed to buy GLG Partners (GLG 4.34, +1.43, +49.14%) for $1.6 billion. The deal will create a firm with around $63 billion of funds under management. Read more on Man Group.

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