* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.1 pct after 7 pct gain in Q3
* Repsol surges on Sinopec deal
* Banking stocks extend three-week pull-back
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Europe's top stocks were slightly
lower around midday on Friday, as banks extended recent losses
into the fourth quarter, offsetting buoyant resource-related
shares.
At 1135 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was down 0.1 percent at 1,060.12 points, while
the Euro STOXX 50 <>, the euro zone's blue-chip index,
was unchanged at 2,749.45 points, after testing resistance at
its 200-day moving average of 2,780.15.
Spanish oil major Repsol <REP.MC> soared 6.4 percent after
clinching a deal to sell a 40 percent stake in its Brazilian arm
to Chinese oil group Sinopec <0386.HK> for $7.1 billion.
BP <BP.L> rose 3.6 percent after it named the Gulf of Mexico
assets it will use to help finance the $20 billion fund for
victims of its oil spill and said the cost of dealing with the
disaster had risen to $11.2 billion.
But the stock, which has jumped 9 percent in three sessions,
is running into strong resistance around 446 pence, the lower
end of a breakaway gap -- a break between prices when a stock
moves sharply up or down with no trading in between -- that
occurred in early June as the stock tumbled.
Major euro zone banks lost ground, hit by lingering concerns
over the health of the sector that have dragged down the sector
for three weeks. Banco Santander <SAN.MC> was down 1.3 percent,
UniCredit <CRDI.MI> down 1 percent and Natixis <CNAT.PA> down
0.7 percent.
Investors are looking for direction to a batch of key U.S.
economic figures, including the Institute for Supply Management
(ISM) manufacturing index.
Analysts and traders said if the ISM reading comes weaker
than expected, the downside risk for equities looks quite
limited as a weak figure would boost the view that the Federal
Reserve is poised to intervene to support the economic recovery.
"The market clearly anticipates more quantitative easing
from the Fed; just look at the dollar," said Philippe De
Vandiere, analyst at IG Markets, in Paris.
"But the problem is that consumer spending is not
rebounding; companies are maintaining their margins by cutting
costs and looking for external growth. So there's not much to
support stocks these days."
The dollar hit its weakest against the euro since March on
the view that it will face more losses if the Federal Reserve
eases monetary policy further to support the economy.
Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index <> was up 0.7
percent, Germany's DAX index <> up 0.2 percent, and
France's CAC 40 <> down 0.2 percent.
Commodity-related stocks featured among the top gainers,
with Anglo American <AAL.L> up 1.8 percent and BHP Billiton
<BLT.L> up 1.5 percent, helped by stronger-than-expected Chinese
manufacturing data. []
"The China data was positive and will be very good for
companies exporting into the country," said Heino Ruland,
strategist at Frankfurt-based Ruland Research.
BMW <BMWG.DE> dropped 2.3 percent after the group said it
would recall 345,000 cars because of a potential braking
problem.
German retailer Metro <MEOG.DE> fell 2.3 percent on news
that German retail sales edged lower in August from a month
earlier, missing expectations.
(Additional reporting by Joanne Frearson in London; Editing by
Will Waterman)
