Europe shares slip as drugmakers fall; Renault up

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 index slip 0.2 percent
                                
 * Carmakers gain; Renault up after Japan FX intervention
                                
 * AstraZeneca slips on Brilinta delay
                                
 * For up-to-the minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 By Joanne Frearson
                                
 LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - European shares edged lower on
Wednesday, with drugmakers falling as AstraZeneca <AZN.L>
slipped after news its heart drug Brilinta faces a delay in
getting U.S. approval, though gains in carmarkers limited
losses.
                                
 Carmakers gave some support to the index as Renault
<RENA.PA> rose 3 percent after Japan intervened in the foreign
exchange markets for the first time in six years making exports
more attractive for Nissan Motors <7201.T>, which is part-owned
by the company. [ID:nLDE68E0H4] [ID:nTOE68E06P]
                                
 French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen <PEUP.PA> gained 4.2
percent after traders cited Morgan Stanley's upgrade of the
stock to "overweight" from "underweight". 
                                
 By 0857 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3>
index of top shares was 0.2 percent lower at 1,086.02 points.
                                
 The index has fallen 6.6 percent since the collapse of
Lehman's two-years ago on worries about the global economic
recovery, but is 3.9 percent higher for the year.
                                
 "We are in wait-and-see mode this morning, investors do not
want to be too long, or too short until we know more about the
recovery and what all the central banks will do," said Philippe
Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets
in Brussels.
                                
 Drugmakers featured among the worst performers. AstraZeneca
fell 1.3 percent after it said its potential new blockbuster
heart drug Brilinta faces a three-month delay in winning U.S.
approval, slicing valuable revenue-earning time off the product.
[ID:nLDE68E06U]
                                
 
                                
 NEXT RISES
                                
 On the upside, Next <NXT.L>, Britain's number two fashion
retailer, gained 4.9 percent after it maintained its guidance
for the second half despite testing trading conditions, as it
met forecasts for first-half profit.
                                
 WPP Group <WPP.L> gained 1.4 percent, supported by bullish
comments from Goldman Sachs in a review of European media
agencies.
                                
 Investors are set to also focus on data from across the
Atlantic for clues on the pace of economic recovery, with the
New York Federal Reserve manufacturing index for September due
at 1230 GMT and U.S. industrial production numbers from the same
month scheduled for release at 1315 GMT.
                                
 "The market may look towards U.S. industrial production
figures and if they are weaker than expected this could bring
investors back to worries about the recovery," Bernard
McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin,
said.
                                
 The Euro STOXX 50 <.STOXX50E>, the euro zone's blue-chip
index, fell 0.1 percent to 2,803.25 points, just below the 61.8
percent Fibonacci retracement of the index's fall from an April
high to a May low at 2,805.95 points.
                                
 Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index was down 0.1
percent, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> fell 0.1 percent and France's
CAC 40 <.FCHI> was flat.
 (Editing by Sharon Lindores)