European shares extend gains in late trading

FRANKFURT, Feb 18 (Reuters) - European shares extended their gains to more than 2 percent in late trading on Monday, led by strength in financial stocks such as Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research).

At 1558 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 2.1 percent at 1,337.12 points, more than wiping out Friday's losses.

The British government's decision to temporarily nationalise Northern Rock NRK.L as well as acquisition talk and optimistic expectations for dividends put banks among the top performers. Barclays shares rose 7.7 percent.

"It's volatile, one day down, another day up. People are cautious and many are taking a very short-term view," said Giuseppe-Guido Amato, equity market strategist at German brokerage Lang & Schwarz in Duesseldorf.

With U.S. markets were closed for the Presidents Day holiday, trading volumes in Europe were relatively low. (Reporting by Peter Starck)