* FTSEurofirst 300 ends 0.4 percent up; gains for 14th day in 19
* Financials stocks jump, BoE move helps UK banks
* Food companies up, but telecom sector heads lower
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - European equities closed higher for the 14th session in 19 on Thursday, supported by a slew of soothing earnings results and encouraging macroeconomic numbers, with financial shares leading the advance.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed 0.4 percent higher at 938.49 points after trading in a wide range of 934.29-946.31 points. It is up 45 percent since hitting a record low in March, but is still down 43 percent from a multi-year peak in 2007.
Banks gained, with HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale surging 2.7-12.3 percent.
UK banks were also helped by the Bank of England's move to extend its quantitative easing programme. The central bank raised the size of its bond purchase scheme to an unexpectedly large 175 billion pounds ($297 billion) from 125 billion.
But Commerzbank fell 0.6 percent after it reported further losses in the second-quarter and stopped short of saying it had turned a corner, although the operating result beat market forecasts.
"Over the last month, people have become more convinced that some sort of a recovery is on its way and a second wind has come into the market," said Andrew Bell, head of research at Rensburg Sheppards.
"I don't think that it's about to win a gold medal for a sprint, but at least the economy is off the injury list and shows signs of convalescing," he added.
Data showed the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, boosting views that the labour market and the economy were stabilising.
Some U.S. retailers reported sales declines for July that were not as steep as expected, suggesting that more shoppers may be buying discretionary items.
The market showed no reaction to the European Central Bank's move to keep interest rates on hold at a record low. It said the euro zone economy would remain weak over the rest of the year but that the rate of contraction was slowing down.
"Despite the drop from the early afternoon highs, the overall sentiment is still positive. Friday sees the release of the U.S. non-farm payrolls and how these are received could well set the tone for the next couple of weeks," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index.
FOOD COMPANIES UP, TELECOMS FALL
Food companies also gained ground, led by Unilever which rose 5.4 percent after the world's third-biggest food and consumer goods group beat forecasts with a 4.1 percent rise in second-quarter sales.
Tate & Lyle was up 1.7 percent, Nestle gained 1.3 percent and Cadbury ,CBRY.L added 0.7 percent.
But some sectors continued to suffer despite an improvement in sentiment. European telecom firms struggled with saturated markets and fierce competition at home and were banking on securing growth abroad, especially in emerging markets.
Deutsche Telekom and Portugal Telecom fell 0.8 percent and 2.9 percent respectively. They met market expectations for second-quarter results, boosted by the performance of their overseas operations, although both faced operational headwinds.
Swisscom, Portugal Telecom, KPN and Telefonica declined 0.1-2.9 percent.
Novo Nordisk fell 0.6 percent. It posted forecast-beating second-quarter profit and raised its guidance but disappointed investors by not giving more solid news on the U.S. approval process for its new diabetes drug. Across Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index, Germany's DAX index and France's CAC were up 0.3-0.9 percent.
Analysts said that charts pointed towards a positive trend in the medium term, but advised caution.
"The 200-day moving averages are turning up, a signal that it's a bull market," said Bernard McAlinden, strategist at NCB Stockbrokers. "But ... in the near term, there is vulnerability to some kind of correction, as it looks stretched." (Additional reporting by Brian Gorman; Editing by Rupert Winchester)