* FTSEurofirst 300 index closes down 0.6 pct
* Banks fall, miners slip as metal prices retreat
* Roche down as misses FY profit forecasts
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Wednesday,
snapping a three-day rally as investors worried about the
economic health of the euro zone's peripheral countries, with
banks falling and miners tracking metal prices lower.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of leading European
shares closed down 0.6 percent at 1,020.99 points after earlier
being up as much as 1,031.39.
"The market is very worried, we are stuck in between a rock
and a hard place," said Philippe Gijsels, senior equity
strategist at Fortis Bank in Brussels.
"On the one hand if we get better economic figures investors
start worrying about rising interest rates, but if you get bad
economic figures investors are worrying we could have some sort
of a double dip recession."
Investor sentiment was also knocked after traders said
Portugal's debt agency IGCP cut its planned T-bill placement to
300 million euros ($420.3 million) from 500 million. The news
pushed the cost of insuring debt against default for Portugal,
Greece and Spain higher.
Banks featured among the worst performers. Royal Bank of
Scotland <RBS.L>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, BBVA <BBVA.MC> and
BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> fell 2.1 to 4.2 percent.
Miners retreated from earlier gains as metal prices fell.
Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP Billiton
<BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> lost 0.8 to 3
percent.
Drugmakers were on the decline. Roche <ROG.VX> slipped 0.6
percent after it missed full-year profit forecasts due to
disappointing sales of key cancer drugs and gave a lacklustre
outlook for 2010. []
ELECTROLUX SLUMPS
Electrolux <ELUXb.ST>, the world's second-biggest home
appliances maker, slumped 11.8 percent after it posted
lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and forecast only a
modest recovery in demand. []
Carmakers were in demand. Daimler <DAIGn.DE> rose 1.7
percent on market talk it could release quarterly results that
are 50 percent above consensus ahead of schedule.
On the upside, insurer Standard Life <SL.L> gained 3.5
percent after the insurer reported above-forecast 2009 sales as
a market recovery during the second half helped soften the
impact of crisis-hit UK consumers cutting back on savings.
[]
"The positives outweigh the negatives. We expect equity
markets to resume their uptrend," said Tammo Greetfeld, equity
strategist at UniCredit Group.
"We think the positive economic backdrop is intact. And
earnings so far, such as Nokia <NOK1V.HE>, and the dividend
announcements have been positive. But there are several risk
factors, such as Greece's deficit."
In economic news, the pace of U.S job losses in the private
sector slowed in January as employers reported the smallest
payroll decline in nearly two years while demand for home loans
hit a six-week high last week, data showed. []
Meanwhile, the U.S. services sector grew slightly in
January, according to an industry report. []
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index lost 0.6 percent,
Germany's DAX <> dropped 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40
<> fell 0.5 percent, Spain's IBEX 35 <> shed 2.3
percent and Portugal's PSI 200 <> fell 2.8 percent.
($1=.7137 Euro)
(Additional reporting by Brian Gorman; Editing by Jon
Loades-Carter)
