European stocks up 6 pct; financials, oils lead

European shares extended gains in afternoon trade on Wednesday to 6 percent, led by banks and oil stocks.

At 1428 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 5.8 percent at 883.41 points, after hitting a day's high of 885.78 points.

Total, BP and Shell were up 6.9-9.3 percent, while among financials, Santander jumped 11 percent, Allianz was up 18 percent and Old Mutual soared 30 percent.

Porsche shares added 27.3 percent after the automaker announced it may sell up to 5 percent of the ordinary shares it holds in Europe's largest automaker Volkswagen AG.

At the other end, Volkswagen was Europe's sharpest decliner, down 41 percent after the Frankfurt stock exchange said it will cap the company's weighting in the DAX index to 10 percent, effective next Monday.