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* FTSEurofirst 300 index rises 1 pct
* Miners feature among top gainers
* Taylor Wimpey surges after update
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - European shares hit a two-weekhigh on Tuesday, with companies such as Taylor Wimpey andVodafone gaining after their encouraging updates andminers tracking a rally in major industrial metals.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was up 1 percentat 1,328.96 points by 0814 GMT after rising to 1,331.51, thehighest since early May. However, the index, which closed flatin the previous session, is still down 7.5 percent this year.
Miners were the top sectoral gainers, with the STOXX Europe600 Basic Resources index rising 2.4 percent following arise in major base metals such as copper and aluminium. Sharesin Anglo American, Glencore and BHP Billiton were up 3.7 to 5.9 percent.
"Markets are once again up on higher commodity prices.Nevertheless, we should not get carried away and chase thecommodity complex higher as most of these markets are still verymuch over-supplied," Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNPParibas Fortis, said.
"I expect quite a bit of volatility over the summer period."
Financial stocks were also in demand. European banks rose 1.5 percent, while Greek banks advanced 3.4percent, with UBS turning more positive on the Greek bankingsector arguing that signs of progress in talks with Greece'slenders meant the sector could rebound.
"The starting point is very challenging and risks abound,but we see a fundamental investment case and valuations suggestupside potential," UBS analysts said, referring to Greek banks.
Some companies were helped by their positive updates. TaylorWimpey advanced 6.2 percent after the housebuilder announced anew special payout, promising investors about 1.3 billion pounds($2 billion) over three years, underpinned by strong demand forproperty in the UK.
Vodafone was up 2.5 percent after the world's second-largestmobile phone operator said its earnings growth would acceleratethis year. The group said a programme to improve its networkshad boosted demand in Europe and helped it to return tounderlying growth in 2016 revenue and core earnings for thefirst time since 2008.
"Demand for data continues to grow strongly ... and Vodafonehave invested heavily in infrastructure to capitalise on this,"Steve Clayton, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown,said.
Among mid-caps, Lookers, one of Britain's biggestcar dealership firms, rose 6.4 percent after saying that it hada good start to the year with positive results in the firstquarter.
Today's European research round-up
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Mike Dolan, Markets Editor EMEA. (Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by TomHeneghan)
