European shares end higher; banks, miners advance

* FTSEurofirst 300 index closed 2.4 pct higher

* ECB tender boosts European shares

* Financials, miners gain

By Harpreet Bhal

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - European shares closed higher on Wednesday, led by financials, after the biggest-ever liquidity injection by the European Central Bank boosted hopes that the effort could help pull the euro zone economy out of a recession.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares ended 2.4 percent higher at 853.56 points, recovering from two straight sessions of losses. The index, which slumped 45 percent in 2008, has jumped 32 percent since hitting a record low in March.

The ECB lent banks 442.241 billion euros of one-year money at a fixed 1 percent rate, higher than the 300 billion euros forecasted by analysts in a Reuters poll [ID:nLO80921]

Banking stocks were among top gainers, with Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research), BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Lloyds (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) climbing between 1.1 and 6.6 percent.