* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.4 pct, gives back earlier gains
* U.S. GDP, weekly jobless, business activity data strong
* Investors book profits following September's rally
By Harpreet Bhal and Simon Jessop
LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - European shares fell for the
fourth straight session on Thursday, with investors locking in
profits after the best quarterly gains in a year following
strong economic data from the United States.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares closed 0.4 percent lower at 1,060.92 points in a choppy
session, after the index hit a high of 1,078.21.
The index ended the month with its highest quarterly gains
in a year, up 6.8 percent in the three months to end-September.
A rally in early September helped the index rise 3.4 percent on
the month to rebound from falls in August.
Some positive sentiment was bolstered by strong U.S.
second-quarter gross domestic product, weekly jobless claims and
Midwest business activity data for September, which pointed to a
modest pick-up in economic activity.
Analysts said investors are likely to focus on U.S. non-farm
payrolls data next week and the next round of corporate earnings
for a more accurate picture of the pace of recovery in the
world's largest economy.
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"I don't think the U.S. data today was enough, I think the
market's looking for a much bigger economic steer," said David
Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index.
"We've seen a really strong run since the end of August for
the stock market, and on the last day of the month ... with a
lot of uncertainty still, there maybe seems to be ... very
little reason to hold the positions into next week."
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> lost 0.3 to 0.6 percent.
Following strong gains this quarter, technical analysts said
the upside momentum for the FTSEurofirst 300 could be weakening.
Despite the key 50-day moving average remaining in support,
"the risk of a break below 1,053 remains high as long as 1,090
is not penetrated", said Nicolas Suiffet, technical analyst at
Paris-based Trading Central.
"A push below 1,053 would open the way to 1,031. Only the
clear upside breakout of 1,090 would lower the corrective risk."
BANKS PRESSURED
Banks were among the fallers, with Barclays <BARC.L>, HSBC
<HSBA.L> and BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> down 0.6 to 1.9 percent.
Allied Irish Banks <ALBK.I> pared early losses to end down
7.6 percent after Ireland's finance minister said the state was
likely to take a majority stake in the lender to make up a
capital shortfall. []
Earlier on Thursday, Ireland unveiled a "final" price tag of
nearly 40 billion euros ($54.33 billion) to rescue its troubled
banks and said it would have to make more drastic budget
savings.
In a widely expected move, Moody's cut Spain's credit rating
on Thursday, the third agency to remove Spain from the top-rated
category.
Among individual movers in Europe, heavyweight BP <BP.L>
rose 1.6 percent after its chief executive told the BBC the firm
may resume paying a dividend in 2011.
Technology stocks were also in demand, led by gains in Nokia
<NOK1V.HE> which rose 2.2 percent after the mobile phone maker
said it has started shipping its new flagship smartphone, the
N8, seen as its first real challenge to Apple's <AAPL.O> iPhone.
(Editing by David Hulmes)
(Graphic by Scott Barber)
