Europe stocks end higher; financials, commods gain

* FTSEurofirst 300 index ends up 1.7 pct * RBS gains after Q1 report, Swiss Re soars

* Commodities track higher crude prices

By Joanne Frearson

LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - European shares ended Friday at their highest closing level in four months as financials gained ground after stress tests on U.S. banks revealed no nasty surprises and energy stocks tracked stronger crude prices.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 1.7 percent at 865.89 points in a choppy session, having risen to 870.10 points and dipped to 851.64.

"After such a decent run over the last couple of months the markets are looking a little overbought. Most people expect some kind of consolidation, though the market does not give the appearance it wants to consolidate," said Mike Lenhoff, strategist at Brewin Dolphin.

Banks added the most points to the index. Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland soared 13.9 percent after it posted a small first quarter loss as strong growth at its investment banking arm mitigated the impact of impairment losses and credit market writedowns totalling 5 billion pounds. [ID:nL8233801]

HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Banco Santander (SAN.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and UniCredit (CRDI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) were up 1.4-6.4 points.

U.S. regulators told top banks on Thursday to raise $74.6 billion to build a capital cushion officials hope will restore faith in financial firms and set a course out of the deepest recession in decades. [ID:nN07333426]