* FTSEurofirst 300 flat
* Nestle gains after upbeat results
* Industrial goods weak as Schindler drops after outlook
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - European shares were flat on
Thursday after hitting 29-month highs in the previous session,
with falls in industrial goods firms offset by gains in food
stocks after upbeat results from Nestle <NESN.VX>.
By 1000 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <>
index of top shares was up just 0.03 percent at 1,186.49 points,
after gaining for the last four sessions and closing at a
29-month high on Wednesday.
"Many people are still optimistic about the market because
the global economy is doing well, and earnings for large U.S.
companies have been quite good," said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein,
equity markets strategist at Deutsche Postbank in Bonn.
"(But) we could see some profit-taking today after the
strong moves that we have seen in the last few days. It is
healthy for shares to take a pause for breath."
Among the gainers, Nestle rose 1 percent after the Swiss
firm posted better-than-expected underling sales growth and said
it sees strong demand in emerging markets helping to offset
rising raw material prices. []
The STOXX Europe 600 food and beverage sector <.SX3P> was
among the biggest sector gainers, up 0.7 percent, with peer
Unilever <ULVR.L> rising 1.1 percent.
Gains on the index, however, were kept in check by falls in
industrial goods firms as Schindler <SCHN.S> shed 3.7 percent on
a disappointing profit outlook for 2011 after the maker of
elevators and escalators posted above forecast earnings results
for 2010.
The FTSEurofirst 300 has rebounded 83.8 percent since
hitting a low in March, 2009, and is up 5.8 percent so far this
year.
Despite the gains, equity valuations remain relatively low,
with the STOXX Europe 600 <> carrying a forward P/E ratio
of 11.3, against a 10-year average of 13.7, according to Thomson
Reuters data.
TECHS GAIN
Technology shares were in demand, with Capgemini <CAPP.PA>
up 6.2 percent after it beat earnings forecasts and reported
accelerating growth in the fourth quarter. []
Within the sector, Alcatel-Lucent <ALUA.PA> rose 2.4
percent, Logica <LOG.L> climbed 2.1 percent and ATOS Origin
<ATOS.PA> edged up 0.9 percent.
Adding to investors' confidence, minutes from the U.S.
Federal Reserve's Jan 25-26 policy session showed officials
raised their forecasts for economic growth last month, though
they still expected slow progress in reducing unemployment.
[]
"The minutes revealed a slight upgrade to the Fed's GDP
expectations and a small winding back of core inflation
forecasts. This is surely another sign that it is in no hurry to
raise rates," Ben Potter, research analyst at IG Markets, wrote
in a note.
Other fallers included BAE Systems <BAES.L>, which fell 3.8
percent after the defence contractor said it expected sales to
fall in 2011 as the impact of defence cuts in Britain and the
United States begin to bite. []
"Apart from an increase in dividend, investors have little
to get excited about as the company predicts a tough year
ahead," said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital.
Pernod Ricard <PERP.PA> shed 3.7 percent as investors took
profit after a 20 percent rally over the last five months as the
French spirits giant raised annual profit targets.
[]
(Reporting by Harpreet Bhal; Editing by Will Waterman)
