* FTSEurofirst 300 index gains 0.7 percent
* Miners gain; Vedanta up on bullish broker note
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By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - European shares hit a three-week high on Wednesday, with investors positioned for positive U.S. ADP National Employment data, while miners gained on hopes the global economy is recovering.
The mining sector featured among the best performers, with the STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources gaining 1.8 percent. Vedanta rose 3.8 percent as traders cited a bullish Morgan Stanley note.
By 0858 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,133.88 points after closing flat in the previous session.
"Follow on from the U.S. overnight, which was strong, and the situation in Japan has not got any worse," said Andrea Williams, who manages 1.3 billion pounds ($2.08 billion) in assets for Royal London Asset Management.
Wall Street was lifted by energy shares, though in weak volumes, while the Nikkei rose 2.6 percent, with the Bank of Japan's purchases of exchange-traded funds lending support.
Later in the European session, investors will closely watch the U.S. ADP private-sector employment report at 1215 GMT which will give traders an idea about the all important nonfarm payroll data on Friday.
"It does not seem to want to go down despite everything that is thrown at it. We are waiting for the U.S. jobs data, unemployment has taken a long time to come down and recovery in this area is important for the market," Williams said.
She said Royal London Asset Management was positioned in the cyclical sector.
Elsewhere, buyers came for German truckmaker MAN, which was 2.8 percent higher, with traders citing a JPMorgan share price target rise.
TECHNICALS POSITIVE
Technicals showed an upward trend. The French CAC 40 traded above its 50-day moving average for the first time since March 9 and Britain's FTSE 100 was above its for the first time since March 8.
Across Europe, the CAC gained 0.8 percent, the FTSE was up 0.5 percent and the German DAX rose 1.1 percent.
Equity valuations on Thomson Reuters Datastream showed the STOXX Europe 600 carrying a one-year forward price-to-earnings of about 10.48 against a 10-year average of 13.57.
However, in the background, euro zone peripheral debt issues remained, with investors also anticipating the results of Ireland banking sector stress tests, which are expected to show the extent of the banks capital needs.
"The feelings are pretty bad news could be in the wings, Irish Life & Permanent is the one looking to be in the greatest danger," said Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank.
"But, it is a relative small player in the grand scheme of things, the bigger concern is what black holes are going to be revealed. This could leave the financial sector very vulnerable for further problems."
Bancassurer Irish Life & Permanent suspended trading of its shares in London and Dublin after media reports the bank stress tests might force it into state control.
Bank of Ireland fell 2 percent, however the overall STOXX Europe 600 Banks gained 0.4 percent.
Elsewhere in the euro zone peripheral countries, Portugal and Greek bond yields were set to remain under pressure following Standard & Poor's downgrade on Tuesday.
Also, on the downside, hearing aid maker Sonova fell 7.7 percent after its chairman, chief executive and chief financial officer resigned following an insider trading probe. (Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Hans Peters)