* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.4 pct; falls for 4th session
* Financial shares feature among top gainers
* Stronger energy prices limit gains
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - European shares fell for a
fourth straight session on Thursday, with concerns about deeper
fiscal cuts in Ireland and Moody's downgrade of Spain's
government bond ratings keeping investors cautious.
At 0902 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was down 0.4 percent at 1,060.77 points after
hitting a three-week closing low on Wednesday. But it was up 3.5
percent this month and was on course to post the biggest
quarterly rise in a year.
Allied Irish Banks <ALBK.I> tumbled more than 18 percent
after the financial regulator updated its assessment of the
bank's capital requirement. []
And Ireland put a 34 billion euros ($46 billion) price on
bailing out Anglo Irish Bank [] under a worst case
scenario, prompting the government to promise a new four-year
budget plan in November. []
"Investors are nervous and want to see this problem solved.
But the big problem is that it will not be solved in the short
term," said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities, referring
to Ireland's fiscal condition.
"Some uncertainty has gone, but investors will continue to
be very cautious."
Financial stocks featured among the top losers, with the
STOXX Europe 600 banking index <.SX7P> falling 0.6 percent.
Barclays <BARC.L>, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> and Bankinter
<BKT.MC> fell 0.3 to 2.9 percent.
Sentiment also worsened after Moody's cut Spain's credit to
Aa1 from AAA, removing the last of its highly-valued triple-A
ratings, but saying it did not expect to cut again soon thanks
to efforts at fiscal reform. []
Investors waited for a slew of macroeconomic numbers later
in the day for some indication about the U.S. Federal Reserve's
move in the coming months related to quantitative easing.
The U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to release first-time
claims for jobless benefits for the week ended Sept. 25 at 1230
GMT. Economists forecast a total of 460,000 new filings,
compared with 465,000 in the prior week.
The Commerce Department will announce its third estimate for
second quarter gross domestic product growth also at 1230 GMT. A
Reuters survey forecast a 1.6 percent annualized pace of growth,
a repeat of the second estimate.
The market will also keep an eye on the Institute of Supply
Management Chicago's September index of manufacturing activity,
due at 1345 GMT. Economists expect a reading of 55.9 compared
with 56.7 in August.
Analysts advised caution in buying equities following mixed
macroeconomic numbers in the past weeks.
"If you buy equities, buy with fear. Be prepared to know
where the sell button is," said Giuseppe-Guido Amato, strategist
at Lang & Schwarz in Frankfurt.
"We have problems and the fundamentals are not healthy."
However, losses were limited by stronger energy shares,
which tracked crude oil prices that were set to close September
with the strongest gain in seven months after stockpiles at the
world's largest consumer declined.
Tullow Oil <TLW.L>, StatoilHydro <STL.OL> and BP <BP.L> rose
0.2 to 1.1 percent.
Nokia <NOK1V.HE> rose more than 3 percent after the world's
largest mobile phone maker announced the start to shipping of
its new flagship smartphone model, the N8.
Accor <ACCP.PA> fell 1.7 percent after the French hotel
group cancelled a planned IPO of casino unit Lucien Barriere.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> fell 0.3 to 0.9 percent.
The Thomson Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index
<.TRXFLDPIPU> was down 0.3 percent.
(Editing by Mike Nesbit)
