Evraz, FirstGroup help UK shares make positive start to quarter

* FTSE 100 up 0.5 pct

* Start of new quarter fuels fresh buying

* Evraz (LSE: EVR.L - news) , FirstGroup (LSE: FGP.L - news) rise after updates

By Francesco Canepa

LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - UK shares made a positive start to the second quarter on Wednesday, with miner Evraz and transportation group FirstGroup leading the rebound after their trading updates.

Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.5 percent at 6,808.77 points at 0836 GMT after a 1.7 percent fall the previous day that trimmed the index's first quarter gains to 3.2 percent. The broader FTSE 350 was up 0.4 percent.

Bank and tobacco stocks, which were among the top fallers on Tuesday, gained sharply. Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) was the top FTSE riser as it added 2.8 percent, while Imperial Tobacco (LSE: IMT.L - news) rose 1.4 percent.

European equities have been supported by a global economic recovery and monetary stimulus by the European Central Bank, a trend that many traders expected to continue in the second quarter of the year.

"The volatility we saw in the last few days was down to the end of the first quarter and repositioning going on in portfolios," Manoj Ladwa, head of trading at TJM Partners, said.

"Now (NYSE: DNOW - news) that we've got that out of the way, it's presenting an opportunity for investors to buy again."

The index was unchanged after data showing Britain's manufacturing sector grew at the fastest rate in eight months in March.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in FirstGroup, which had hit an all-time low on Tuesday, rose 4.9 percent as analysts and traders were relieved to hear trading was in line with management expectations.

"Following the recent share price weakness we upgrade our recommendation from Hold to Buy, reflecting the attractive underlying value of the company's businesses," analysts at Panmure Gorfon said in a note.

Russia's Evraz one of the country's largest steelmakers, rose 6.2 percent after saying it would return up to $375 million to its shareholders as part of a tender offer, it said on Wednesday, after its 2014 core earnings rose on a weaker rouble.

On the flipside, oil and gas producer Amerisus fell as much as 26.6 pct, hitting its lowest level in 2-1/2 years, after announcing a fall in proven and probable reserves. (Editing by Hugh Lawson)