European stocks up 2.5 pct as oil falls; SG soars

PARIS Aug 5 (Reuters) - European stocks extended lofty gains in late trade on Tuesday, rising 2.5 percent in a relief rally sparked by a drop in oil prices and better-than-feared results from French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA).

Banks were among the top gainers, with SocGen up 10 percent and HBOS HBOS.L up 12 percent.

At 1507 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 2.4 percent at 1,180.34 points.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson and Sudip Kar-Gupta)