* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.6 pct, gains after 4-session losses
* Real estate, mining shares feature among top gainers
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - European equities bounced back
from four-week closing lows on Wednesday as strong results from
Land Securities
The real estate sector <.SX86P>, up 2.8 percent, topped the gainers' list, supported by a 6.7-percent jump in Land Securities that posted a double-digit rise in full-year net asset value.
The company said it will continue speculatively developing
offices to fill a central London under-supply that may be more
acute than it expected. British Land
At 0843 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was up 0.6 percent at 1,133.87 points after falling in the previous four sessions. The index fell 1 percent to its lowest close in four weeks on Tuesday.
The selloff in the previous sessions had prompted some investors to grab cheaper stocks, and while the medium-term outlook was more positive, near-term gains could be capped by concerns about economic recovery and the euro zone debt crisis.
"On the one side, there is some nervousness around as we have got a lot of dangers looming around, but on the other side investors are increasing their equity weightings that supports the market," Anko Beldsnijder, managing director of MainFirst Asset Management, which manages $1.1 billion.
"Shares are an attractive asset class versus other asset classes and we are witnessing that institutional investors are moving into equities. But I expect that we will be range-bound in the near term."
Miners drew strength from higher metals prices, which
bounced back on technical factors and a drop in the dollar. The
STOXX Europe 600 Basic Materials index <.SXPP> rose 1.3 percent,
while Eurasian Natural Resources
Eurasian also got a boost after Citigroup raised its rating on the stock to "buy from "hold" on valuation grounds.
MEDIUM-TERM OUTLOOK
Investors remained positive on the stock market's outlook in the medium term as equities were still cheaper than their historical averages and the earnings season was reasonably good.
"The outlook still looks very promising, the earnings are coming through and valuations are quite acceptable," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin.
"But it seems to me that we are going to be stuck in a trading range for a little while."
According to Thomson Reuters Datastream, the STOXX Europe 600 <.STOXX> carries a one-year forward price-to-earnings of 10.7, against a 10-year average of 13.5.
Among individual movers, Deutsche Telekom
Yara International
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> rose 1 to 1.1 percent. The Thomson Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index <.TRXFLDPIPU> was up 0.9 percent. (Editing by Louise Heavens)