Europe shares end flat; utilities up, banks fall

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 index end up 0.01 pct
                                
 * Utilities up on defensives play
                                
 * Banks fall; UBS up after fixed income news
                                
 
                                
 By Joanne Frearson
                                
 LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - European shares ended flat on
Tuesday, with gains in the utility sector offsetting falls in
banks, with UBS <UBSN.VX> up on a forecast bumper profit at its
fixed income business.
                                
 The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares
provisionally closed up 0.01 percent at 1,079.34 points, having
earlier reached 1,086.03, its highest since early October 2008.
                                
 The index, which gained around 26 percent in 2009, is up 3.2
percent so far this quarter.
                                
 The utility sector was in demand following rises on Monday
as investors stuck with defensive stocks. E.ON <EONGn.DE>, GDF
Suez <GSZ.PA> and RWE <RWEG.DE> were up 0.7 to 1.4 percent.
                                
 "We have had a cracking few weeks and the first quarter
looks to be a good one, but now we are into pre-Easter profit
taking," said Jim Wood-Smith, head of research at Williams de
Broe.
                                
 Swiss bank UBS rose 3 percent after it said it expected
first-quarter revenue in its rebuilt fixed income business to be
slightly below $2.3 billion. [ID:nLDE62T0IF]
                                
 The banking sector, however, was lower following falls in
the previous session. HSBC <HSBA.L>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Lloyds
Banking Group <LLOY.L> and BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> slipped 0.9 to
3 percent.
                                
 Greek banks shares <.FTATBNK> fell 3 percent. An attempt by
Greece to raise an additional 1 billion euros, through a
reopening of an old 2022 issue, met with less than stellar
demand, raising only 390 million euros ($527 million).
[ID:nLDE62T1FJ]
                                
 
                                
 DRUGMAKERS FALL
                                
 Not all defensive stocks were in demand, however, with
drugmakers featuring among the biggest losers as AstraZeneca
<AZN.L> fell 1.3 percent.
                                
 A experimental two-in-one heart drug from AstraZeneca
<AZN.L> and Abbott Laboratories <ABT.N> has been knocked back by
U.S. regulators who want more information about the product, the
companies said. [ID:nLDE62T1B0]
                                
 Mining shares reversed earlier gains. Lonmin <LMI.L>,
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L> lost 0.4 to 2.6 percent.
                                
 Looking at individual stocks, French defence electronics
group Thales <TCFP.PA> gained 1.6 percent after investment bank
Citigroup raised its recommendation to 'buy' from 'hold'.
                                
 In economic news, prices of U.S. single-family homes rose in
January for the eighth straight month and the annual rate moved
the closest it has been to an increase in three years, Standard
& Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed. [ID:nNYS007876]
                                
 U.S. consumer confidence rebounded in March, helped by a
slight increase in optimism about the labor market, according to
a private report released. [ID:nN30143718]
                                
 Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index was down 0.7
percent, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> was 0.2 percent lower and
France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> was down 0.3 percent.
  (Reporting by Joanne Frearson; editing by Simon Jessop)