* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.9 pct
* ING rises as profit grows
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - European shares fell early on
Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's measures to put
economic recovery back on track failed to impress investors.
At 0831 GMT the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was down 0.9 percent at 1,052.83 points, after
falling 0.8 percent in the previous session.
The European benchmark is still up more than 63 percent from
its lifetime low of March 9, 2009, partly due to stimulus
measures worldwide.
"The Fed fell between two stools," said Jeremy
Batstone-Carr, strategist at Charles Stanley in London.
"It was probably a reflection of divided perceptions on the
outlook. The Fed has done little more in terms of action other
than the gentlest of nudges on the tiller. The markets have
chosen to focus on the Fed's concerns about growth."
The U.S. central bank said on Tuesday it would reinvest the
money from maturing mortgage bonds it holds into government debt
to counter recent signs of economic weakness. It left interest
rates near zero and renewed its pledge to keep them low for an
extended period. []
The heavyweight banking sector was among the fallers in a
broad market decline, with BBVA <BBVA.MC>, Credit Agricole
<CAGR.PA>, Lloyds <LLOY.L>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> and Societe
Generale <SOGN.PA> down between 1.8 and 2.3 percent.
Miners fell as the price of copper and other metals fell
given the dollar's rise against most currencies. Eurasian
Natural Resources Corp <ENRC.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> Vedanta
<VED.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> fell between 2.7 and 3 percent.
Anglo American <AAL.L> fell 2.1 percent after Morgan Stanley
downgraded it to "equal-weight" from "overweight".
German government bonds rallied, pushing the 10-year yield
to an all-time low, with the Fed's assessment of the recovery
boosting appetite for safer assets.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC40 <> fell between 1.1 and 1.3
percent.
ING RISES
Some companies bucked the trend with upbeat statements. ING
Groep <ING.AS> rose 2.1 percent after posting second-quarter
profit at the top end of expectations on strength in its retail
banking business and saying it still planned to sell its
insurance business. []
But Standard Life <SL.L> fell 3.6 percent as Panmure Gordon
cut its rating to "hold" from "buy", even after the insurer
posted higher interim profits.
The Euro STOXX 50 <> index of blue chips in the
euro zone fell 0.9 percent to 2,774.30 points. The next key
support level is at 2,737.62, the 50 percent retracement of the
slide from the April high to the May low.
In other macroeconomic news, growth in Chinese investment
and factory output slowed further last month as the government
brought credit growth back to normal after a record lending
spree in 2009 to counter the global financial crisis.
(Editing by Michael Shields)
