* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.2 pct after rising last 3 sessions
* Financial shares among top decliners, energy stocks weak
* Pharmaceutical shares under pressure
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - European shares retreated in
early trading on Wednesday from a near six-week closing high in
the previous session, with banking and energy stocks slipping
ahead of U.S. jobs data.
At 0929 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was down 0.2 percent at 1,025.07 points. On
Tuesday, it rose 0.8 percent to 1,027.29 points, its highest
close since Jan. 21.
The benchmark index is down about 2 percent so far this year
after gaining 26 percent in 2009 and up 58 percent from a record
low in March last year.
Banks were among the top losers, with BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>,
Credit Agricole <CAGR.PA>, Natixis <CNAT.PA>, Deutsche Bank
<DBKGn.DE> and Commerzbank <CBKG.DE> down 0.1 to 1.4 percent.
But Standard Chartered <STAN.L> rose 2 percent after meeting
expectations with a 13 percent jump in 2009 profit, as strong
investment banking growth in its core Asian markets offset a
jump in bad debts in the Middle East. []
"There is still some cautiousness in the market.
Macroeconomic data hasn't been that great lately and people are
afraid that some of today's economic numbers may come out lower
than expected," said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities.
"But I have an impression that optimism has returned and a
lot of investors are now pretty confident that the problems in
Greece are going to be solved," he added.
Greece's cabinet on Wednesday decided to take extra
austerity measures totalling 4.8 billion euros ($6.49 billion)
to ensure it meets key fiscal targets this year, a government
source said. []
Investors awaited the U.S. ADP Employment Report for
February and Challenger U.S. jobs cut for February ahead of the
all-important U.S. non-farm payrolls on Friday.
Energy shares were also among top fallers as oil prices
<CLc1> steadied below $80 a barrel after an industry report
showed U.S. crude inventories climbed more than expected on
growing imports.
BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG Group <BG.L>,
Repsol <REP.MC>, Total <TOTF.PA> and StatoilHydro <STL.OL> shed
0.1 to 0.7 percent.
PHARMA STOCKS DOWN
Drugmakers were also weaker, with AstraZeneca <AZN.L>,
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>, Merck <MRCG.DE>, Novartis <NOVN.VX>,
Roche Holding <ROG.VX>, Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> and Shire
<SHP.L> falling 0.1 to 0.7 percent.
Adidas <ADSG.DE>, the world's No. 2 sports goods maker, was
down 5.3 percent. It is counting on the soccer World Cup and the
revival of its Reebok brand to return to growth this year after
posting a weak finish to 2009. []
Holcim <HOLN.VX>, the world's second largest cement maker,
was down 2.4 percent. The company looked to Asia for more growth
this year and said improvements in Europe and North America were
hard to call and hostage to government stimulus plans.
Adecco <ADEN.VX>, the world's biggest staffing company, rose
3.3 percent after the company said its major markets of France
and North America had returned to growth in the first two months
of 2010 and that it expected conditions to improve further.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index <>, Germany's
DAX <> and France's CAC 40 <> fell 0.2 to 0.3
percent.
