TOTAL, SHELL, ALCATEL STOCKS GO UP

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks rose as higher oil prices lifted energy producers and better-than-expected earnings from Hewlett-Packard Co. and Home Depot Inc. eased concern the recession will snuff out profits.

Total SA, Europe's third-largest energy producer, and BP Plc climbed more than 4 percent as crude gained. Alcatel-Lucent SA jumped 4.8 percent on Dassault Aviation's 1.56 billion-euro ($2 billion) offer for Alcatel's stake in Thales SA.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.8 percent at 201.91 in London, reversing an earlier decline of as much as 2.2 percent. The gauge has lost 45 percent this year as writedowns and credit losses topped $965 billion in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

U.S. earnings are ``reassuring the market,'' said Arnaud Scarpaci, a fund manager at Agilis Gestion in Paris, which oversees $152 million. The market ``seems oversold,'' he said."