* FTSEurofirst 300 <> up 0.1 percent, 6th day of gains
* Oils gain on stronger crude prices; BP dips
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - European shares edged up in
early trade on Wednesday, extending a rally to six days by
tracking gains on Wall Street where the S&P 500 <.SPX> lifted
above its 200-day moving average.
But the rise was limited as euro zone worries resurfaced,
causing the market to trimmed strong gains made in early trade.
At 0850 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.1 percent at 1,038.26 points, after
rising 0.7 percent on Tuesday to its highest close in over a
month.
"The market has got over political, euro and sovereign debt
worries, although none of those issues have gone away," said
Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment
Management. "We have got a bit of calm. The market has gone back
to looking at corporate valuations, which are looking good."
Energy companies gained sharply after crude prices <CLc1>
closed just below $77 in New York on Tuesday, on economic
optimism. Total <TOTF.PA> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.AS> gained
0.9 percent and 1 percent respectively.
BP <BP.L>, facing a bill running into several billion
dollars for putting right an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,
dipped 0.5 percent after closing at a 13-year low on Tuesday.
The heavyweight banking sector was mostly higher, with Royal
Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>, Standard Chartered <STAN.L> and
Barclays <BARC.L> up between 1 percent and 1.7 percent.
The pan-European index has gained nearly 6 percent in the
past six sessions, but is still dowm more than 6 percent from a
peak in mid-April, when worries about the euro zone's debt
crisis started to intensify.
The premium that investors demand to hold 10-year Spanish
government bonds rather than euro zone benchmark German Bunds
hit a euro lifetime high as investors grew nervous about Spain's
credit markets.
"After the week-long rally, some stocks look overbought, but
overall the market is closely following the euro, which has been
slipping over the past hour," a Paris-based trader said.
"Concerns over the Spanish debt issues are still lingering."
The euro -- which has been used to assess investor risk
appetite in the current climate of jitters about Europe's debt
crisis -- hit a two-week high on Wednesday but lacked the
momentum to break nearby resistance.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC40 <>rose 0.1-0.2 percent, while
Spain's IBEX <> was down 0.8 percent.
SCHRODERS FALLS
Schroders <SDR.L> fell 2.3 percent after Citigroup cut its
rating for the fund manager to 'sell' from 'buy', in a review of
British asset managers.
"We expect retail investors to have 'sat on their hands'
during recent market volatility, leading to lower gross sales.
Worse still, a short-lived market rally could lead to
profit-taking. The longer that volatility continues, the higher
the risk of managers seeing net outflows in H2," Citigroup said.
Investors will look at U.S. housing data, due before Wall
Street opens.
U.S. stocks jumped on Tuesday with investors motivated by
successful debt auctions in Spain, Belgium and Ireland, which
lifted some of the gloom over Europe's debt crisis.
The S&P 500 turned positive for the year and rose above its
200-day moving average for the first time in a month, suggesting
the recent downtrend may be nearing an end.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 <> closed 1.8 percent
higher on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Dan Lalor)
