European shares switched into convalescence mode in early trading on Monday, thus softening the impact of a downward slide last week.

Germany's DAX index of the country's 30 strongest blue chip stocks climbed well over 1.0 percent shortly after the opening bell, after dropping below the psychologically important threshold of 7,000 points on Friday.

Among the biggest winners in the index were financial stocks, with shares of Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank rising by more than 2.0 percent on Monday morning.

Good news from overseas

France's CAC 40 also gained 1.0 percent shortly after the start of trading, and Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.8 percent, after last weeks 2.8-percent losses, marking the steepest drop since May. Spearheading the rebound were economically sensitive commodity stocks and banks.

Analysts said European shares were rising on optimism for a deal in Washington to avoid massive spending cuts and tax hikes. Late last Friday, leaders of the US Senate and House signaled their willingness to overcome fiscal policy differences.

At the weekend, some US lawmakers also expressed confidence that a deal would be reached to avert a $600 billion (470 billion euro) fiscal cliff.

hg/mz (Reuters, dpa)