UPDATE 2-UK shares up for first time in 4 days on signs of economic recovery

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* UK homebuilders surge as house prices hit record high
* Barratt up, sees higher 2021 home completions
* Media, beverage firms, personal goods stocks lead gains
* FTSE 100 up 1.3%, FTSE 250 up 0.5%

(Updates prices throughout, adds comments)
By Shashank Nayar and Shreyashi Sanyal
Sept 2 (Reuters) - London-listed shares rose for the first
time in four sessions on Wednesday as a surge in house prices to
record highs powered stocks of homebuilders, with Barratt
jumping to the top of the FTSE 100.
The blue-chip index .FTSE and the mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC
climbed 1.3% and 0.5%, respectively, with homebuilders
.FTNMX3720 marking their best day in nearly two months as data
showed house prices jumped 2% in August, the biggest
month-on-month increase since 2004.
Britain's top homebuilder, Barratt Developments Plc BDEV.L
jumped 8.6% as it forecast better advance sales and more home
completions over the coming year, although it scrapped plans for
a special dividend payout after annual profit slumped.
"News of UK house prices hitting record highs may provide
some short-term fizz for Barratt and the rest of the sector but
there could be a lingering hangover to come," said Russ Mould,
investment director at AJ Bell.
The FTSE 100 has bounced since a coronavirus-driven crash in
March, but is still about 22% below its January highs, lagging
U.S. and European peers, which have been propelled by a raft of
global stimulus.
"Investors have begun to regain confidence following some
positivity on the economic front (but) the sentiment remains
largely cautious as markets are factoring in a slower pace of
recovery going ahead," said David Madden, an analyst at CMC
Markets.
Media stocks .FTNMX5550 , beverage companies .FTNMX3530
and personal goods makers .FTNMX3760 were among the biggest
gainers
"Helping to drive the FTSE was strength in the dollar...
against sterling which will benefit the large number of
companies on the index with foreign earnings," AJ Bell's Mould
said.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 1.5% after
four sessions of declines on Wednesday on signs of a recovery in
global manufacturing activity. .EU