* European shares fightback lead impressive turnaround
* Sterling edges off 31-year lows
* Crude oil futures claw back some of their overnight losses
* Gold, silver comes in for some profit taking
By Marc Jones
LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - World stocks rose for the first time in three days and sterling and the euro climbed on Tuesday, as investors made a rush for Brexit-bashed assets hammered by some of the biggest falls since the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Bargain hunting trumped still widespread uncertainty over Britain's vote to leave the European Union, as the bloc's leaders, including soon-to-be-ex UK Prime Minister David Cameron, headed for their first post-vote meeting in Brussels.
European shares jumped 2.4 percent in early trading having plunged over 10 percent since Friday.
Banks and insurers, which have suffered the most in the rout, led the fightback. Barclays jumped 6.3 percent, Deutsche Bank climbed 3.5 percent, Credit Agricole and Italy's UniCredit were both up 7 percent and Spain's Bankia jumped 9.5 percent.
Battered sterling also got a reprieve. It rose 0.8 percent to $1.3335 following the biggest two-day slide in the post-1973 era of floating exchange rates, which saw it slump to a 31-year low of $1.3122 on Monday.
Against the yen, sterling rose 1 percent to 135.54 while the euro nudged up versus the dollar to $1.1075 having dropped to a three-month low of $1.0912 after the British vote.
"After a few days of a lot of volatility, it looks like we have found some stability," said TD Securities' European Head of Currency Strategy Ned Rumpeltin.
"People will now need to see a bit more on the big questions such as what is the timeline for the UK withdrawal and what are the effects going to be for the global economy."
The major concern for investors -- aside from the political ramifications of a split EU -- is whether already struggling banks can survive if Brexit prompts central banks in Europe, Switzerland, Scandinavia and Japan to cut interest rates even more deeply into negative territory.
The cost of insuring against European banks default hit a four-month high on Monday and traders will be watching closely for signals from ECB chief Mario Draghi, who will also attend the summit in Brussels later.
In a speech in Portugal Draghi said central banks around the world should aim to align their monetary policies to mitigate "destabilising spillovers" between economies.
DOWNGRADES
Risk appetite was also beginning to resurface in bond markets. Yields on UK government bonds, known as Gilts, and German Bunds nudged up having both hit record lows in the days since the Brexit vote, while yields in lower rated Spain, Italy and Portugal all fell more than 8 basis points.