* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.5 pct
* Financials down after rising in recent sessions
* Miners track higher metals prices
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - European shares slipped on
Thursday, snapping a five-session winning streak, as investors
remained worried about the health of the financial sector even
as recent U.S. data raised hope for a recovery.
At 0950 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was 0.5 percent lower at 740.21 points after
rising for five sessions in a row. But the index is still down
11 percent so far this year after plunging 45 percent in 2008.
Sentiment was also down after data showed British retail
sales plunged more than expected in February as snowy weather
and dismal economic conditions kept consumers away from the
shops. []
And a survey by market research group GfK showed that German
consumer morale should fall slightly in April after a grim run
of economic reports and economists expect rising unemployment to
hit spending in the next few months.
Banks were broadly lower. Standard Chartered Bank <STAN.L>
fell 2.2 percent, HSBC <HSBA.L> was down 1.7 percent, Societe
Generale <SOGN.PA> fell 1.1 percent, Credit Agricole <CAGR.PA>
dropped 1.3 percent and UBS <UBSN.VX> declined 1.7 percent.
But Barclays <BARC.L> was up 4.2 percent and Lloyds <LLOY.L>
gained 5 percent.
"The banking sector is a little bit overbought right now,"
said Gerhard Schwarz, head of global equity strategy at
Unicredit in Munich.
"We have seen very strong gains but it will be dependent on
news flow ahead of the G20 meeting," he said.
The Group of 20 leaders are scheduled to meet in London next
week, while in the U.S., the Obama administration will propose
tough new financial rules on Thursday as part of its push to
stabilise the economy and curb excessive risk-taking that nearly
wrecked its banks and set off a world financial crisis.
"The market is still strange and pessimistic, it is
unbelievable," said Thomas Nagal strategist at Equinet in
Frankfurt.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index was down 0.4
percent, Germany's DAX <> rose 0.5 percent and France's
CAC 40 <> dropped 0.2 percent.
MINERS ADVANCE
But mining stocks tracked higher metals prices, with copper
rising 3.3 percent, aluminium advancing more than 2 percent and
zinc trading 3.3. percent higher.
BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta
<ANTO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L> and Eurasian Natural Resources
<ENRC.L> rose 0.6-4.8 percent.
Mining giant Rio Tinto <RIO.L> was up 3.5 percent after the
company said it could sell more assets and reschedule debt if a
proposed $19.5 billion tie-up with China's state-owned aluminium
firm Chinalco fails to materialise. []
Energy shares were mixed. BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell
<RDSb.L>, Repsol <REP.MC>, BG Group <BG.L> and ENI <ENI.MI> were
down 0.1-1 percent, but Tullow Oil <TLW.L> gained 0.8 percent
and Total <TOTF.PA> rose 0.7 percent.
Among individual companies, Kingfisher <KGF.L>, Europe's top
home improvements retailer, fell 2.9 percent after it unveiled
plans to close a third of its loss-making Chinese stores and
said it expected a "very challenging" year.
Hennes & Mauritz <HMb.ST>, the world's third-biggest
clothing retailer by sales, was down 5 percent after it posted a
surprise 12.6 percent fall in its first-quarter pretax profits.
Volkswagen <VOWG.DE> surged 11 percent as a 10 billion euro
($13.58 billion) refinancing deal for parent company Porsche
<PSHG_p.DE> on Wednesday sparked speculation that Porsche might
increase its stake in Europe's largest carmarker.
(Additional reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Hans Peters)
