Europe shares hit day's high after Chinese rate cut

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares extended gains in late morning trade on Wednesday to 5 percent after China announced it was cutting interest rates.

At 7:03 a.m. EDT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index was up 4.8 percent at 874.19 points, after having hit a day high of 875.95 shortly after the Chinese statement.

Banks and oil shares added most points to the index. Santander (SAN.MC) was up 10 percent, while Total (TOTF.PA), BP (BP.L) and Shell (RDSa.AS) gained 5.6-8.9 percent on a $3.5 gain in the oil price to $66.24 a barrel.

(Reporting by Sitaraman Shankar)