* FTSEurofirst 300 index rebounds, up 0.7 pct
* Drugmakers, miners feature among top gainers
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - European equities reversed early losses to be about 0.7 percent higher in afternoon trade on Wednesday as a strong open on Wall Street and a rise in commodity prices prompted investors to return to the market.
At 1421 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 6.74 points at 975.90, after falling to a low of 955.94 earlier, as a summit between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to calm investor jitters over the euro zone debt crisis.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 , the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones industrial index were trading up 0.7 to 1.1 percent after Target posted higher quarterly profit and Staples raised its profit outlook and revealed better-than-expected earnings.
"There is no doubt that we are getting a positive influence from the United States, where better-than-expected results have been helping, reinforcing that the corporate picture remains very bright," said Henk Potts, equity strategist at Barclays Wealth.
"That probably explains why we saw, after a weak start in Europe on the back of some disappointment from the European summit, a bounce as investors focused again on fundamentals."
In Europe, drugmakers featured among the top gainers, with the sector index rising 1.4 percent. Sanofi rose 3.3 percent, catching up with sector peers after Deutsche Bank ranked the French drugmaker among 25 European "quality names" that provide good value for investors.
Miners were also in demand, with the sector index rising 1.2 percent, as key base metals prices rose on buying interest from Asia and on a weaker dollar.
(Editing by David Hulmes)
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