* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.2 pct
* Spain's benchmark up after bond auction
* Tesco falls after sales slip in home market
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - European shares slipped back from
28-month highs on Thursday, ahead of interest rate decisions at
central banks but after a successful Spanish bond auction,
At 0952 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was down 0.2 percent at 1,161.42 points, after
rising 1.5 percent in the previous session to its highest close
since September 2008.
The European benchmark is up nearly 80 percent from its
lifetime low in March 2009.
Spain attracted strong demand at an auction of 5-year bonds
on Thursday while the yield came in lower than expected,
reflecting growing hopes that euro zone governments will take
fresh action to ease the region's debt crisis. []
Spanish banks rose sharply after the Spanish bond auction,
and adding to Wednesday's rally after a Portuguese bond auction.
Banco Santander <SAN.MC> and BBVA <BBVA.MC> rose 4.6 and 5.4
percent respectively.
"The Portugal bond auction has been a key catalyst (in
driving the market higher)," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr,
strategist at Charles Stanley. "Portugal has bought itself a bit
more time. But charts indicate we're moving into overbought
territory."
Tesco <TSCO.L> fell 2.2 percent to 412.05 pence after the
world's No.3 retailer missed Christmas sales forecasts, saying
disruption from severe winter weather hit sales of non-food
goods in its main British market. []
Miners were lower as metals prices slipped, with copper
falling back from near record highs.
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. <ENRC.L>, Vedanta <VED.L>,
Xstrata <XTA.L> fell between 1 and 1.4 percent.
The energy sector was mixed as crude prices hovered near
two-year highs.
Spain's Repsol <REP.MC> rose 3.2 percent after reports
India's Essar group is studying an acquisition of 5 percent of
the company. []
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <> fell 0.3 percent,
Germany's DAX <> was flat and France's CAC40 <> rose
0.4 percent. Spain's IBEX35 <> rose 1.9 percent.
"There's a bit of consolidation going on," one London-based
trader said, "and the volumes are not that great, and the retail
results were mixed."
Among other British retailers adding to Tesco's downbeat
news, Dixons <DXNS.L>, which runs the PC World and Currys
chains, fell 7.3 percent. It said underlying sales fell 4
percent in the UK and Ireland.
HOME RETAIL RISES
On the upside, Home Retail <HOME.L> gained 6.2 percent as
the owner of the Argos catalogue chain said sales have fallen
less than analyst forecasts.
Food producer Nestle <NESN.VX> fell 2.1 percent, after
brokers downgrade the stock. BofA Merrill Lynch downgraded it to
"underperform" from "buy", and Nomura to "reduce" from "buy".
The Bank of England and the European Central Bank are both
expected to keep their respective interest rates at record lows.
The European Central Bank is expected to give few clues on
its bond buying plans on Thursday, instead pressing governments
to do more to tackle the euro debt crisis while it stands guard
against firming price pressures. []
British industrial output grew at its slowest annual pace
since July in November, dragged down by continued weakness in
the oil and gas sector and despite ongoing strength in
manufacturing, official data showed [].
Later, investors' attention will turn to U.S. economic data,
such as weekly jobless claims and producer prices.
(Editing by Hans Peters)
