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) jumped 7.4 percent, while BHP Billiton (BLT.L) and Kazakhmys (KAZ.L) gained 6.7 percent.

Oil explorer Tullow Oil (TLW.L) 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), Total (TOTF.PA) and Shell (RDSa.L) 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)