LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - European shares rose in early trade on Thursday, recovering some of the ground lost in the previous session, with investors looking to key data in the United States.
At 0706 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was 0.7 percent higher at 1,073.37 points, after falling 1.5 percent in the previous session to its lowest close in two weeks.
In a broad market rally, the heavyweight banking sector was among the gainers. BBVA, Societe Generale and UniCredit rose between 1 and 1.8 percent.
Later in the session, investors' attention will turn to U.S. weekly jobless and existing homes data, giving clues on the strength of the recovery in the world's biggest economy, following the Federal Reserve's downbeat assessment, which sent markets lower on Wednesday.
"There's a fair bit to say indexes will stay in the range for now," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin. "Of all the data, the existing home sales is the most important. We need to see a significant bounce there to give markets any assurance." (Reporting by Brian Gorman)