Europe shares rally for second day on economy hopes

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.7 pct, up for 2nd day
                                
 * Miners gain as copper, gold rise
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 
                                
 By Brian Gorman
                                
 LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - European shares rose in early
trade on Wednesday, tracking gains in Asia and on Wall Street,
with stock markets worldwide moving higher on hopes central
banks will do more to boost struggling economies.
                                
 At 0823 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,073.33 points, after
rising 1.4 percent in the previous session, as U.S. data on the
services sector helped ease some concerns over growth prospects.
  The two-day rally follows six straight sessions of decline,
the longest losing streak since January 2009. The European
benchmark is up more than 66 percent from its lifetime low of
March 9, 2009, but has gained less than 3 percent in 2010. 
 A stimulus pledge from the Bank of Japan to lift the economy
also reassured investors on Tuesday.
                                
 Policymakers in the United States and Britain may further
boost markets by more quantitative easing, analysts said.
However, the Bank of England is not expected to unveil extra
measures when it announces its interest rate decision on
Thursday. The European Central Bank will also decides on rates
on Thursday.
  "The market is looking glass half full, rather than glass
half empty," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven
Investment Management. "It's ignoring some of the negative ISM
figures. And the bigger concern is the trade issue between
Europe and China, and the currencies."
                                
 Countries risk undermining the global economic recovery if
they use their currencies to try to boost domestic growth, the
head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday in a
newspaper interview. [ID:nLDE6942A2]
                                
 In a broad market rally, miners were among the biggest
gainers as gold hit a record high, and copper prices hit a
two-year high, boosted in part by a weaker dollar. 
                                
 Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, Kazakhmys
<KAZ.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> rose between 2.6 and 2.9 percent.
                                
 
                                
 BANK BOOST
                                
 The heavyweight banking sector also helped to boost the
index. Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> and
 UBS <UBSN.VX> rose between 1.3 and 1.7 percent.
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, Germany's DAX
<.GDAXI> and France's CAC40 <.FCHI> rose between 0.6 and 0.7
percent. 
                                
 The Euro STOXX 50 <.STOXX50E>, the euro zone's blue chip
index, rose 0.8 percent to 2,781.76 points, moving further above
a key resistance level, the 50 percent retracement of the
index's fall from a peak in April to a low in May.
                                
 Budget airline EasyJet <EZJ.L> rose 8.8 percent after saying
it expected to beat its profit expectations for the year
following a strong performance over the summer. [ID:nLDE6950IL]
                                
 Spain's Ferrovial <FER.MC> rose 4.4 percent after selling a
10 percent stake in the 407 Express Toll Route in Canada for
C$894 million ($876 million) to the Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board. [ID:nLDE69424F]
                                
 Later in the session, investors' attention will turn to the
ADP Employment report in the United States, which may give some
indication of the all-important payrolls report on Friday.
 (Editing by Karen Foster)