* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.8 pct to one-week closing low
* Economic data from U.S., Britain signal slow growth
* UK retailers weak
* Hochtief rises on takeover approach
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - European shares closed lower
Thursday, as investors worried that high U.S. jobless numbers,
despite falls in weekly claims, and disappointing British retail
sales could signal a slowdown in the pace of economic recovery.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares ended 0.8 percent lower at 1,075.90 points to hit its
lowest closing level in a week.
British retail sales fell unexpectedly in August for the
first time in seven months. []
UK retailers were among the decliners, with Next <NXT.L>,
Marks & Spencer <MKS.L> and Home Retail <HOME.L> down 0.3
percent to 0.9 percent.
Over in the U.S., claims for unemployment benefits dropped
to a two-month low last week at 450,000, [] while
factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region contracted more
slowly in September, confirming the economy is on a slow growth
path and lessening the odds of a double-dip recession.
Gains in the last three weeks have helped the FTSEurofirst
300 index rise 4.8 percent in September, but analysts said
concerns over economic slowdown could cause the index to
struggle from here.
"Times are difficult because of the combination of high
unemployment, banks not lending yet and governments starting to
implement austerity measures. All these factors are not going to
be resolved overnight," said Franz Weis, a fund manager at
Comgest in Paris.
Faced with a likely cooling of the global economic recovery
and stringent budget austerity measures taking effect in Europe,
analysts surveyed in a Reuters poll bumped down forecasts for
most major stock markets compared with June and expected
European indexes to ascend slowly through to the end of the
year. []
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC-40 <> lost 0.2 to 0.5 percent.
Heavyweight banks were lower, with Societe Generale
<SOGN.PA>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> and Lloyds Banking Group
<LLOY.L> down between 1.3 percent and 3 percent lower as
investors pared their exposure to risk.
TRIPLE-WITCHING EYED
The Euro STOXX 50 <>, the euro zone's blue-chip
index, was down 0.4 percent at 2,784.61 points, 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.
"Looking at the technical picture, markets are trying to go
through the resistance levels. People will also be focusing on
Friday, when we have triple witching. When that's out of the
way, the market could break out of this range," said Heino
Ruland, strategist at Ruland Research in Frankfurt.
Among individual movers in Europe, construction group
Hochtief <HOTG.DE> rose 5.6 percent after Spanish builder ACS
<ACS.MC> said it planned a bid for the German company. ACS added
3 percent. []
On the downside, Ericsson <ERICb.ST> fell 2.1 percent, with
traders citing market talk that the company was guiding analysts
for lower results. An Ericsson spokesman said the company did
not give outlooks. []
BT Group <BT.L> shed 3.1 percent after Morgan Stanley cut
its rating for the telecoms carrier to "equal-weight" from
"overweight" and reduced its price target.
(Additional reporting by Brian Gorman; editing by Elaine
Hardcastle)
