Europe stocks halt winning run; miners, banks drop

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.7 percent
                                
 * Miners, banks drop; telecoms up
                                
 * Eyes on Fiat, Glaxo, M.Stanley results
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 
                                
 By Christoph Steitz
                                
 FRANKFURT, July 22 (Reuters) - European shares slipped on
Wednesday, snapping a seven-day winning run, as banking and
mining stocks weighed, while analysts cautioned about earnings
expectations, pointing to profit taking after the recent surge.
                                
 At 0821 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was down 0.7 percent at 881.82 points. The index
advanced for a seventh straight session on Tuesday, hitting a
6-1/2 month high, and has gained more than 36 percent from its
lifetime low of March 9.
                                
 Mining stocks took the most points off the index and the DJ
STOXX European Basic Resources Index <.SXPP> was the biggest
sectoral loser, down 2.1 percent.
                                
 BHP Billiton <BLT.L> fell 2.3 percent after the world's
largest miner said restocking of commodities in China may have
ended. [ID:nSYD463516]
                                
 "I don't want to dampen the positive sentiment, but one has
to acknowledge that expectations with regard to corporate
earnings have been very low," said Commerzbank Chief Strategist
Hans-Juergen Delp.
                                
 "Caterpillar <CAT.N> and Apple <AAPL.O> have shown that the
second earnings season yield results above expectations, but one
has to ask the question: Where do those expectations lie?"
                                
 Caterpillar results lifted U.S. stocks on Tuesday, while
Apple shares rose 4.2 percent in Frankfurt trade <AAPL.F> on
Wednesday.
                                
 "it is a realistic assumption, that investors will take some
profits over the trading session," Roger Peeters, strategist at
Close Brothers Seydler, said.
                                
 
                                
 BANKS DOWN; EYES ON EARNINGS
                                
 Banks also fell, with the DJ STOXX European Banks Index
<.SX7P> down 0.5 percent, and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, Barclays
<BARC.L> and BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> shedding between 0.4 and 2.4
percent.
                                
 Shares in Wincor Nixdorf <WING.DE> fell 9.3 percent after
the German maker of ATMs posted weaker-than-expected quarterly
results, while the company's full-year forecast disappointed.
[ID:nWEA1802]
                                
 "The outlook puzzles us. Now, being at the end of July, the
company is not able to come up with a precise guidance. Thus, we
speculate that order cancellations might still be a topic,"
Equinet analyst Adrian Pehl says in a note.
                                
 On the upside, the DJ STOXX European Telecoms Index was the
top sectoral gainer, up 0.4 percent, with Deutsche Telekom
<DTEGn.DE>, Vodafone <VOD.L> and Telecom Italia <TLIT.MI> up
0.5-3.1 percent.
                                
 Later in the day, investors will focus on a raft of further
second-quarter earnings by European companies such as
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> and Fiat <FIA.MI>, while U.S. Morgan
Stanley <MS> will also release results.
                                
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE> fell 0.5 percent,
Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> was 0.7 percent lower and France's CAC-40
<.FCHI> was down 0.9 percent.
  (Additional reporting by Peter Starck in Frankfurt; Editing by
Mike Nesbit)