GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. stocks rebound; European shares fall

(Recasts, adds analysts comments, updates prices)

By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa

NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks gained on Monday as a regulatory overhaul in Washington propped up financial shares, but shares in Europe closed lower as renewed concern about the credit crunch hit bank stocks.

The persistent concerns about the global banking system also drove up prices of U.S. government bonds.

And in foreign exchange markets, the euro came close to a record high against the dollar as higher-than-forecast euro-zone price data reinforced expectations that the European Central Bank will not start cutting interest rates soon.

The fall in stocks in Europe marked the the worst quarterly performance in over five years, with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares now down for five straight months, its worst run since a six-month stretch of declines from April to September 2002.

A reversal in the record-prone commodities sector continued, meanwhile, with oil prices falling over 3 percent to $102 a barrel. The Reuters/CRB commodities index was down 1.8 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.5 percent as investors exhibited cautious optimism regarding a White House plan to boost the Federal Reserve's role in overseeing financial institutions.

But there was broader skepticism that this and other measures to unclog the banking system, such as massive liquidity injections from global central banks, would do the trick.