European shares close higher led by miners

LONDON Oct 8 (Reuters) - European shares closed higher on Thursday, with miners extending recent gains as gold prices XAU= hit new highs, and after the European Central Bank kept its key interest rate at 1 percent.

U.S. aluminium producer Alcoa (AA.N) also helped by kicking off third-quarter earnings season in positive fashion.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares rose 1.1 percent to a provisional close of 999.87 points.

The European benchmark is up more than 54 percent from a record low in early March, as investors have become more confident on the prospects of economic recovery.

The ECB kept its main refinancing rate unchanged at a record low of 1 percent on Thursday, as expected by economists. [ID:nL8111212]

"There was no surprise, and no reason for a surprise," said Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners, in London.

"Nothing has changed. Markets go on very much as before with positive momentum. But the data over the coming months may suggest we have raced a bit too far ahead of ourselves."

Miners were among the best performers as gold hit a fresh record high, helped by a weak dollar. Other metal prices, including copper MCU3=, were also up.

Vedanta (VED.L) led the sector higher, up 3.9 percent after the India-focused miner posted stronger second quarter output of refined zinc and iron ore. [ID:nL7642307]

Anglo American (AAL.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L), BHP Billiton (BLT.L), Lonmin (LMI.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.L) and Xstrata (XTA.L) gained 2.1-4.7 percent.

Earlier, the Bank of England kept interest rates on hold at a record low of 0.5 percent and left 175 billion pounds ($281.2 billion) of quantitative easing in place. [ID:nL8222498]

U.S. markets moved higher on Thursday, helped by results at Alcoa and data from the labour market and the retail sector. (Reporting by Brian Gorman)