* FTSEurofirst 300 sheds 0.9 percent
* Peripheral euro zone debt worries hurt sentiment
* Investors await U.S. consumer confidence, housing data
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Tuesday
as worries persisted over the debt situation in peripheral euro
zone countries, and with some nervousness lingering ahead of
data which is likely to reflect the pace of economic recovery.
Standard & Poor's warned it may cut Ireland's credit rating
again due to the rising cost of recapitalising nationalised
Anglo Irish Bank [], sparking jitters in the equity
market and pushing Dublin's borrowing costs to fresh peaks.
By 0839 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <>
index of top shares shed 0.9 percent at 1,064.43 points, adding
to falls from the previous session.
Investors are likely to await a slew of economic data from
the United States to gauge the pace of economic recovery. Key
data include consumer confidence figures for September at 1400
GMT and the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index at
1300 GMT.
"Markets look a bit tired and are looking to economic data
to help them break higher. There are tentative signs that the
rate of slowing in the global economy is running its course but
markets are still nervous about that," said Bernard McAlinden
investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin.
"In Europe you have got worries about the banking system in
the peripheral euro zone economies flaring up again and in
general there are worries about the strength of the global
economy."
Adding to those jitters, the Spanish/German bond yield
spread hit its widest since mid-July as investors worried about
the country's credit ratings outlook. Spanish stocks <>
shed 1.4 percent.
Spain could lose its final triple-A rating on its debt by
Moody's this week, but the move is seen as catching-up with cuts
to Spain's top rating by peers Standard & Poor's and Fitch last
spring. []
"Although Spain seems to no longer be in the bad boys club
of the euro zone, the knock-on effect is inevitable," a
Madrid-based trader said.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a graphic on Europe's struggles with debt, click on
http://r.reuters.com/hyb65p
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
BANKS PRESSURED
Banking stocks were among the heaviest sector drags on
worries over peripheral euro zone debt, with Barclays <BARC.L>,
Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> down 1.8
to 2.2 percent.
Among the biggest individual fallers, Michelin <MICP.PA>
shed 8.2 percent -- its sharpest sell-off in 19 months -- after
the tyre maker announced a deeply discounted rights issue of
about 1.2 billion euros to boost investments and enhance its
credit rating. []
Other fallers included Man Group <EMG.L>, which slipped 3.2
percent. The firm said clients pulled out assets for an eighth
straight quarter. []
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> shed 1 to 1.1 percent.
The Euro STOXX 50 <>, the euro zone's blue-chip
index, fell 1.1 percent to 2,746.92 points, holding above the 50
percent Fibonacci retracement of the index's fall from an April
high to a May low at 2,736.28 points.
(Additional reporting by Tomas Gonzalez in Madrid; Graphic by
Scott Barber; Editing by Hans Peters)
