* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.7 percent, up for 2nd session
* Miners gain as gold touches new high
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By Harro ten Wolde
LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - European shares extended gains for a second straight session on Wednesday, with investors returning to equities on hopes that central banks will do more to boost struggling economies, while strong metals prices boosted miners.
At 1115 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,073.18 points after rising to a high of 1.076.53 earlier during the session.
The two-day rally follows six straight sessions of declines. 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. "We see yesterday's positive news reflected in the markets, supported by economic growth in the euro zone and hopes for U.S. unemployment later this week," said Gert Jan Geels, an asset manager at Amsterdam-based Eureffect. "The euro zone economies look good."
The market got some support from economic growth in the euro zone, which rebounded strongly in the second quarter, driven by higher investment and replenishment of inventories.
But investors remained cautious as Fitch Ratings downgraded Ireland's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs).
In a broad market rally, miners were among the biggest gainers as gold rose to a second successive record high, while palladium hit its highest level in nine years, boosted in part by a weaker dollar. Key base metals were also higher.
Anglo American, Antofagasta, Kazakhmys and Xstrata rose between 4 and 4.5 percent.
The Euro STOXX 50, the euro zone's blue chip index, rose 0.7 percent to 2,778.33 points to hover above its 200-day moving average, now at 2,769.80. The index faces strong resistance at around 2,740, its 61.8-percent retracement of the index's fall from a peak in April to a low in May.
The heavyweight banking sector also helped to boost the index. Banco Santander, Deutsche Bank and UBS rose between 1.5 and 2.6 percent.
HOPES ON POLICYMAKERS
Investors' attention will turn to the ADP Employment report in the United States later in the session, which may give some indication of the all-important payrolls report on Friday.
Investor hopes are on policymakers in the United States and Britain to further boost markets by more quantitative easing, analysts said.
"It seems that anticipation is rising for some positive action," said Ben Critchley, sales trader at IG Index, pointing to the Bank of England's interest rate decision on Thursday, when the European Central Bank will also decide on rates. Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC40 rose between 0.9 and 1.1 percent.
Budget airline EasyJet rose 8.9 percent after saying it expected to beat its profit expectations for the year following a strong performance over the summer.
The company's remarks supported travel and leisure shares, up 1.5 percent. British Airways, RyanAir and Air France-KLM gained 3 to 3.8 percent.
Spain's Ferrovial rose 3.4 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. (Editing by Hans Peters)