European shares climb higher, led up by Taylor Wimpey

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - European shares climbed on Tuesday following some encouraging company updates, with Taylor Wimpey leading the market higher after announcing a special dividend while Vodafone rose after positive earnings.

Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW.L - news) shares advanced 3.8 percent, the top gainer in the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, after the housebuilder announced a new special payout, promising investors about 1.3 billion pounds ($2 billion) over three years, underpinned by strong demand for property in the UK.

Vodafone rose 2.4 percent after the world's second-largest mobile phone operator said its earnings growth would accelerate this year. The group said a programme to improve its networks had boosted demand in Europe and helped it to return to underlying growth in 2016 revenue and core earnings for the first time since 2008.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 1 percent by 0720 GMT after closing flat in the previous session. The index is still down about 7.5 percent so far this year.

Among sectoral gainers, miners were also in demand following a rally in metals prices. The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index was up 2.6 percent. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)