European shares buoyed by encouraging earnings

* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.4 pct, reverses two-day retreat

* Strong earnings in Royal Dutch Shell lifts oils

* Investors shun big bets ahead of Fed meeting next week

By Harpreet Bhal

LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday, as a flurry of upbeat corporate earnings helped bolster positive sentiment for equities, more than offsetting falls in chemical firms after Solvay dropped on weak results.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares closed 0.4 percent higher at 1,085.87 points, after falling 0.8 percent to a two-week closing low in the previous session.

Oil and gas companies were among the biggest gainers, with heavyweight Royal Dutch Shell rising 0.5 percent after Europe's largest oil company by market value beat analysts forecasts to posted higher third-quarter profits. [ID:nLDE69R0XR]

BP , which reports earnings on Tuesday, added 0.9 percent while Repsol gained 1.8 percent, with a rise in crude prices to above $82 a barrel also helping underpin gains in the sector.

"This is the sixth earnings season where the surprises have by far outweighed the non-surprises and this is very good news for the equity market," said Lothar Mentel, chief investment officer at Octopus Investments.

France Telecom rose 3.1 percent after posting forecast-beating results and confirming its outlook, fuelling recent enthusiasm for telecom shares -- one of the sectors investors had shunned for most of the year.

Deutsche Telecom , Vodafone and Telenor rose 1.6 to 3 percent.

On the downside, Belgian chemicals company Solvay fell 5.4 percent, pressured by a large impairment charge and disappointing earnings.

Within the sector, Bayer shed 1.6 percent as looming damages to U.S. rice farmers tarnished the firm's forecast-beating third-quarter underlying earnings. [ID:nLDE69L14P]

QE SPECULATION PRESISTS

The FTSEurofirst 300 index has gained 2.4 percent so far this month as expectations grow that the U.S. Federal Reserve will pump more money into the economy to spur growth. The STOXX Europe 600 basic resources index <.SXPP> is up 5.3 percent as quantitative easing speculation puts pressure on the dollar and boosted metal prices.

Renewed selling pressure for the dollar helped mining shares push higher on Thursday as metals prices rose across the board. Anglo American , Rio Tinto and Antofagasta rose 1.3 to 2.1 percent.

The VDAX-NEW volatility index <.V1XI>, one of Europe's main barometers of investor anxiety, was down 3.1 percent on Thursday. It hit a three-week high in the previous session as investors shunned risky assets on rising doubts about how aggressive the Fed is likely to be on quantitative easing (QE) when it meets next week.

"We're a bit stuck in a range on both the euro/dollar and European stocks ahead of the Fed's meeting next week. The market swings on speculation over how big QE2 will be, but we don't see big positions taken," said Harry Sebag, head of sales trading at Saxo Banque, in Paris.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> added 0.4 to 0.6 percent (Additional reporting by Blaise Robinson in Paris; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)