European shares rise as OPEC+ output cuts boost oil majors

(Reuters) - European shares edged higher on Monday, after ending a volatile quarter higher, as oil heavyweights rallied after a surprise announcement by OPEC+ and its allies to cut production further lifted crude prices.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1% as of 0710 GMT on the first trading session of the new quarter, after gaining consecutively for the last two quarters.

Oil and gas shares were the top gainers, with the index rising 3.6%, set for its best day in four months.

Crude prices jumped more than 5% after Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers on Sunday announced further oil output cuts of around 1.16 million barrels per day. [O/R]

Shares of oil giants such as Total, Shell and BP rose around 4% each.

Investors will closely monitor the eurozone's manufacturing data for March, due later in the day, to assess the strength of its economies.

Unicredit was up 0.5% as the bank started the first tranche of its share buyback programme on Monday of up to 2.34 billion euros.

Logistics firm DSV fell 2.8% after a share placement.

(Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)