Europe stocks extends gains as Wall Street rises

LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) - Europe stocks extended gains in afternoon session on Wednesday after Wall Street rose in early trade, with banking stocks the biggest gainers.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares was up 1.9 percent at 856.50 points after hitting its day's high of 856.79, while major U.S. indexes .DJI .SPX .IXIC were 1.5-2.1 percent higher.

Intel's (INTC.O) consensus-beating quarterly results and the strong reading in New York State manufacturing survey helped boost investor sentiment.

HSBC (HSBA.L), Banco Santander (SAN.MC), Barclays (BARC.L), Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) were up 2.2-3.6 percent. (Reporting by Joanne Frearson)