Banks, oils power Europe stocks, but Q-Cells slips

* FTSEurofirst 300 index gains 1.1 pct

* Financials, commodity shares rise ahead of key results

* Q-Cells falls 11.3 pct on sales outlook

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - European equities raced higher on Tuesday following sharp gains in the previous session, with investors snapping up banks and commodity shares ahead of results from companies like Goldman (GS.N) and Intel (INTC.O).

At 0832 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 1.1 percent at 838.96 points after surging 2 percent in the previous session. The index, which slumped 45 percent in 2008, is up about 29 percent since falling to a lifetime low in early March.

Financial shares were in demand, with Standard Chartered (STAN.L), HSBC (HSBA.L), Barclays (BARC.L), Lloyds (LLOY.L), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), Commerzbank (CBKG.DE), Bank of Ireland (BKIR.I) and BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) rising 2-9.3 percent.

"We are going into the earnings season so the optimists will look for signs of a confirmation of recovery," said Jonathan Lawlor, head of European research at Fox-Pitt, Kelton.

"We could have continuing volatility. It is the lowest period of activity in the year apart from the Christmas period, so volumes should be low. You might see some sharp moves."

Investors awaited earnings results from Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Intel (INTC.O) later in the session, while other companies announcing results this week include Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), JPMorgan (JPM.N), Citigroup (C.N) and General Electric (GE.N).

Positive macro-economic data also underpinned the market. Surveys showed British retail sales rose in June and house prices fell at their slowest rate in two years, in further signs the economy may be bottoming out after the worst downturn in decades. [ID:nLD233137]

Miners got strength from higher metals prices. BHP Billiton (BLT.L), Anglo American (AAL.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.L), Xstrata (XTA.L) and Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L) rose 2-4.3 percent.

"It was great to see the markets strengthen yesterday," said Owen Ireland, analyst at ODL Securities.

"However, investors might still be wary that this could be the one step forward before the two steps back that has become so familiar to us over the last month."