Commodity gains lift European shares 0.5 pct

LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - European shares gained 0.5 percent by the close on Wednesday, lifted by strong gains in commodity stocks that tracked crude and metal prices.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index ended provisionally up 0.5 percent at 1,165.53 points, with commodities the top four percentage gainers on the benchmark.

Among miners, Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) jumped 7.4 percent, while BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Kazakhmys (KAZ.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) gained 6.7 percent.

Oil explorer Tullow Oil (TLW.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) jumped 6.8 percent after positive comments in research notes, with one dealer citing a UBS upgrade to "buy" from "neutral".

Heavyweight oil shares BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) gained 0.7-2.6 percent as oil traded higher for much of the day, though it came off towards the end and was $1.23 lower at $113.30 a barrel.

The FTSEurofirst 300 has lost around 23 percent this year, hit by writedowns in banks hurt by a credit crisis and by a slowing economy.

The index has fallen 1.2 percent so far this month, and is on track for the seventh month of losses this year.

(Reporting by Sitaraman Shankar)