UPDATE 2-European shares end stronger on energy sector earnings, lockdown exit hopes

* Total , Repsol surge on better than expected earnings
* Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget bottoms out STOXX 600 after CEO
detained
* Bank stocks pare most gains on German court ruling

(Adds comment, updates to close)
By Sruthi Shankar and Ambar Warrick
May 5 (Reuters) - European stocks closed higher on Tuesday,
shrugging off uncertainty over regional bond purchases as a
swathe of positive earnings and an easing of coronavirus
lockdown restrictions in some countries caused some optimism.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX closed about 2.2%
higher.
Germany's top court ruled earlier on Tuesday that the
Bundesbank must stop buying bonds under the European Central
Bank's stimulus scheme if the ECB cannot justify the purchase.
German shares .GDAXI closed 2.5% higher and shares in
Italy .FTMIB , whose debt is particularly vulnerable to changes
in the ECB's bond-buying scheme, added 2%.
"(The court ruling) doesn't apply to the Pandemic Emergency
Purchase Programme, so therefore it shouldn't be that great a
problem at this moment in time," said Craig Erlam, Senior Market
Analyst, OANDA Europe.
"Broadly speaking this wasn't necessarily a bad reading as
far as the quantitative easing scheme was concerned. It
suggested that the legality of it - as the ECB has always
suggested - was perfectly okay."
Still, bank stocks .SX7P , which are more exposed to
ructions in the sovereign debt space, ended the day off session
highs.
Total SA TOTF.PA gained 7.9% after it maintained its
dividend despite reporting a sharp fall in first-quarter net
adjusted profit due to a plunge in oil prices. Spain's Repsol
REP.MC topped the STOXX 600 after its first-quarter profit
beat expectations. Europe's oil and gas sector .SXEP led gains among regional
sectors for the day, as crude prices surged on expectations that
fuel demand will begin to recover as some U.S. states and
countries in Europe and Asia start to ease measures imposed to
try to curb the spread of the coronavirus. O/R
"There is some hope that things are starting to get back to
normal, and the rally in oil is helping some confidence back in
the markets," said Keith Temperton, a sales trader at Tavira
Securities.
European shares are hovering near two-month highs on massive
stimulus measures and hopes that the coronavirus may have peaked
in certain U.S. and European hotpots.
Among other companies that reported, German meal-kit
delivery firm HelloFresh HFGG.DE surged nearly 10% after it
raised its 2020 forecast -- continued lockdowns have boosted its
first-quarter performance in international markets. Copenhagen-based jewellery maker Pandora PNDORA.CO jumped
8.3% after saying it was encouraged by higher online sales and
the reopening of stores in Germany and some other countries.
Among decliners, Swedish real estate firm
Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget SBBb.ST fell 18% and was at the bottom
of the STOXX 600 after the company said its chief executive,
Ilija Batljan, had been detained for allegedly violating market
abuse regulations.