By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares advanced on Tuesday, as investors back from the Easter weekend took their first chance to react to signs the U.S. economy could be on track for a sustainable recovery. The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:SXXP 268.86, +1.24, +0.46%) rose 0.5% to 269.01, extending a 1.5% gain made last week in the four-day run-up to the Easter break. On Thursday the index closed at 267.62, a high not seen since Sep. 25, 2008. European equity markets were closed on Friday when the U.S. Labor Department released data that showed the U.S. economy created 162,000 jobs in March, the biggest seasonally-adjusted increase for the data series in three years. "Even modest growth represents a continuation of the improving trend that has been in place since early 2009. The pickup looks poised to feed on itself in coming months, with increased employment leading to increased spending, leading to increased employment, and so on," said economists at MF Global. Commodity firms advanced amid hopes for improving demand, with copper miner Vedanta Resources (UK:VED 2,926, +62.00, +2.17%) up 2.2% and natural-gas producer BG Group (UK:BG. 1,181, +14.00, +1.20%) up 1.2%. The dollar gained ground against the euro and the common currency traded at $1.3414 as concerns about Greece's fiscal health continued to weigh. The country wants to bypass International Monetary Fund fiscal measures, according to a report. Read more on Greece. On a regional level, the French CAC-40 index (FR:PX1 4,055, +20.86, +0.52%) rose 0.7% to 4,060.67 and the German DAX index (DX:DAX 6,252, +15.39, +0.25%) climbed 0.3% to 6,254.41. The U.K. FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,778, +33.30, +0.58%) advanced 0.6% to 5,777.46. Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Tuesday that a general election will be held May 6, as widely expected. The British pound traded down 0.9% at $1.5151 against the dollar. Read story on election date. Asian shares traded mixed while U.S. stock futures were lower, pointing to a bit of consolidation on Wall Street. See Asia Markets. Back in Europe and shares of French auto maker Renault (FR:RNO 36.34, +0.85, +2.38%) rose 2.8% while German auto maker Daimler (DE:DAI 35.44, +0.24, +0.67%) (DAI 47.97, +0.33, +0.69%) rose 0.5% after a report that a potential tie-up between the firms and Nissan Motor Co. could be announced by Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday on its Web site that Renault and Nissan will acquire stakes in Daimler of about 3% each, while Daimler will acquire slightly larger stakes in Renault and Nissan. The alliance is meant to allow the car companies to share small car technologies. Shares of Crucell (NL:CRXL 15.35, +0.07, +0.46%) rose 1.5%. The biopharmaceutical producer and GlaxoSmithKline's (UK:GSK 1,249, -8.50, -0.68%) (GSK 38.63, +0.08, +0.21%) biologicals division will jointly develop a malaria vaccine candidate, the companies said on Tuesday. GlaxoSmithKline shares were down 0.6%. Shares of newspaper publisher Daily Mail & General Trust (UK:DMGT 524.50, +17.50, +3.45%) rose 3%. The firm was upgraded to overweight from neutral at J.P. Morgan, which said there is potential for multiple expansion and earnings upside. Fastweb (IT:FWB 14.85, +0.48, +3.35%) shares were up 4.5%. The Rome public prosecutors office withdrew requests to place Fastweb and a Telecom Italia (IT:TIT 1.08, 0.00, 0.00%) unit under court-appointed management. The office recently alleged both firms were involved in money laundering. The firms have denied the allegations. Telecom Italia shares were down 0.4%. Read more on Fastweb.

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