* FTSEurofirst 300 index up 1 percent
* ECB leaves rates unchanged
* BoE raises quantiative easing
* Earnings results push banks, insurers higher
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday as the ECB left interest rates unchanged and the Bank of England extended its quantitative easing programme to 175 billion sterling, with banks boosted by results from KBC and insurer Aviva.
By 1154 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 1 percent at 943.57 points, having been up as much as 945.47 points earlier.
The European Central Bank kept its main refinancing rate unchanged at a record low of 1 percent as it waits to see the impact of efforts so far to revive the economy and credit flows.
In the UK, the Bank of England extended its quantitative easing programme, raising the size of its bond purchase scheme to an unexpectedly large 175 billion pounds, from 125 billion, and held interest rates at 0.5 percent.
The decision enables the central bank to continue its programme of asset purchases with newly created money -- which it started in March to boost Britain's recession-hit economy -- as the last of the 125 billion pounds was spent in late July.
"The market came off a bit initially as it was not what the market was expecting and investors started to panic. But the market over the past couple of months has rallied over the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme and this is just a continuation of that," a London-based trader said.
Banks added the most points to the index, although stocks were mixed. Belgian banking and insurance group KBC surged 19.4 percent after it returned to profit in the second quarter, following three straight quarterly losses.
"Financials remain the focus, the general view is if banks are starting to show less bad results then the market view seems to be that things are getting better," said Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank.
French bank Natixis rose 15.7 percent following market rumours that it might be delisted.
Among other banks Barclays, Societe Generale, Credit Suisse and Banco Santander were up 1.6-7.2 percent.
However, Commerzbank retreated from earlier gains and was down 0.2 percent. The bank's second-quarter operating results beat analyst expectations, but it said it is reviewing whether to use the bad bank scheme.
RESULTS BOOST INSURERS
Insurers were boosted by a slew of positive earnings. British insurer Aviva rose 8.9 percent after it announced a smaller-than-expected cut in its dividend and a partial float of its Delta Lloyd unit, when reporting its first-half results.
Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services gained 2.3 percent after it beat second-quarter forecasts and said its capital position was strong and it remained confident it was well positioned in the financial crisis.
AXA, Europe's second-biggest insurer by market capitalisation, ticked up 1.9 percent after it posted a smaller-than-expected decline in first-half earnings and said it was ready to face any further downturn in the market.
Food producers were among the high movers. Unilever, gained 6.6 percent after the world's third-biggest food and consumer goods group beat consensus expectations with a 4.1 percent rise in second-quarter underlying sales and a surprisingly strong return to volume growth. The FTSEurofits 300 index is up more than 46 percent from the lifetime low on March 9, as investors have become more confident on the prospects for a recovery, and with earnings season having been mostly positive.
"The 200-day moving averages are turning up, a signal that it's a bull market," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers, in Dublin.
"But the market is trading above the averages for now and, in the near term, there is vulnerability to some kind of correction, as it looks stretched."
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was up 1.5 percent, Germany's DAX was up 1 percent and France's CAC 40 was 1.2 percent higher. (Additional reporting by Brian Gorman; editing by Simon Jessop)