* FTSEurofirst 300 index up 0.6 percent
* Commodity shares track higher crude, metals prices
* Sanofi tumbles 9 percent on concerns over diabetes drug
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - European shares climbed in morning trade on Friday after slipping in the previous session, with a rise in crude and metals prices boosting commodity stocks, while financial stocks recovered after recent losses.
At 0840 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.6 percent at 855.65 points after falling 0.9 percent on Thursday. The index, which slumped 45 percent in 2008, has jumped 32 percent since hitting a lifetime low in early March.
Energy stocks tracked crude oil prices, which rose more than 1 percent to trade above $71 a barrel. BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, Tullow Oil, Repsol, Total and StatoilHydro added 0.5-3.3 percent.
"Most people will agree now that we won't revisit the low point, that we have seen this year, again any time soon," said Luc Van Hecka, chief economist at KBC Securities.
"But there are still some problems to be resolved in the financial sector and as long as that is not out of the way in a convincing manner, we could still have intermediate corrections," he said.
UBS AG fell 1 percent after the Swiss lender said it planned to raise about 3.8 billion Swiss francs by selling stock and expected to post a second-quarter net loss.
But the banking sector was in a positive territory after falling in 7 out of 11 previous sessions. HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank gained 1.3-3.8 percent.
The Bank of England said British banks looked in better shape than six months ago but were still vulnerable to economic shocks.
Miners got strength from higher metals prices. BHP Billiton , Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Eurasian Natural Resources rose 0.4-2.9 percent.
Sanofi-Aventis shares tumbled 9 percent, extending the previous day's sharp losses, while Novo Nordisk lost 2.5 percent, on continuing concerns about the safety of Sanofi's diabetes drug Lantus and modern insulins in general.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Sanofi to "equal-weight" from "overweight" in the light of a debate among diabetologists over the potential cancer risk of insulin analogues like Lantus, while JPMorgan cut its rating on Sanofi to "neutral" from "overweight".
Roche gained 0.5 percent as it filed its MabThera cancer drug for approval in Europe as a first line biologic treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
Peugeot fell 2.8 percent after Standard & Poor's said it may cut its ratings on the carmaker into junk territory, saying weak demand is likely to worsen the French company's financial profile.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 were up 0.4-0.8 percent. (Editing by Dan Lalor)