European shares were trading at 3-year highs in midday trading on Wednesday led by oil majors boosted by stronger crude prices, while Anglo-U.S. fund manager Amvescap leapt on talk of a takeover. Among other standout movers, Allianz rose 3 percent after the German insurer refused to comment on market rumours that it could sell its investment banking business Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein to Deutsche Bank, according to Reuters. Oil and gas stocks again led the way as brokers continued to revise up their price targets for the sector based on the higher oil price. "Look for bumper second-quarter results season to remind the market of this sector's latent earnings potential" said broker Merrill Lynch in a note. Majors BP and Total both added around 2 percent. By 1058 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips was 0.7 percent higher at 1,158.66, having hit 1,158.72 earlier. European shares have outperformed their U.S. counterparts by around 7 percent in dollar terms so far this year and broker Morgan Stanley expects the outperformance to continue for several years. --More 1747 Local Time 1447 GMT
