European shares close lower for 3rd straight day

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.4 pct
                                
 * Financials among top losers; miners retreat
                                
 * BP gains after giant oil find
                                
     
                                
 By Brian Gorman
                                
 LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - European shares closed lower for
a third straight day on Wednesday, with financial stocks
suffering the most, as investors took profits after a strong run
in recent months.
                                
 The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares
fell 0.4 percent to close at 950.41 points. The benchmark index
is still up more than 47 percent from the record low it hit on
March 9, and the DJ Stoxx Banking Index <.SX7P> is up more than
154 percent in that time. 
                                
 Shares have risen with growing investor confidence in
economic recovery. The euro zone's two biggest economies, France
and Germany, have both come out of recession.
                                
 But some analysts say there is insufficient evidence of
recovery to justify the rally and worry about what will happen
when government stimulus measures are wound down.
                                
 Banking stocks were among the worst hit after a sharp
sell-off in the United States on Tuesday and in Japan on
Wednesday.
                                
 Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Credit Suisse
<CSGN.VX>, Lloyds <LLOY.L>, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>, UBS
<UBSN.VX> and UniCredit <CRDI.MI> fell between 1.5 and 6.2
percent.
                                
 "Part of this is just natural profit taking," said Philip
Lawlor, strategist at Nomura, in London.
                                
 "One catalyst for that has been China," he added, referring
to a 21.8 percent slide for the Shanghai Composite Index <.SSEC>
in August.
                                
 "We have to wait now for companies to report third-quarter
numbers. We're in a vacuum, so it's not surprising to see a
dip." 
                                
  G20 countries still think it is too early to remove the
huge fiscal and monetary stimulus thrown at their economies but
any exit strategies should be executed in a coordinated way, a
UK government source said on Wednesday. [ID:nL2626020]
                                
 Data showed the euro zone economy contracted only marginally
in the second quarter, dragged down by a plunge in inventories
and private investment. [ID:nBRQ007497]
                                
 Data from the United States was mixed. The world's biggest
economy lost fewer private sector jobs in August than in the
prior month while companies also planned fewer layoffs,
suggesting modest improvement in the beleaguered labour market.
                                
 Tentative signs of recovery were also evident in data
showing U.S. factories saw an increase in new orders in July for
the fourth straight month, though the rise was smaller than
economists had expected. [ID:nN02429512]
                                
 
                                
 INSURERS FALL
                                
 Insurers also lost ground, with Aegon <AEGN.AS>, AXA
<AXAF.PA>, Allianz <ALVG.DE> and Swiss Re <RUKN.VX> falling
between 1.9 and 4.8 percent. 
                                
 Legal & General <LGEN.L> closed 8.7 percent lower, partly as
a result of going ex-dividend. 
                                
 Mining shares suffered as copper <MCU3> fell to a near
two-week low on worries prices in industrial metals have
overheated.
                                
 BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta
<ANTO.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L> and Eurasian
Natural Resources <ENRC.L> fell 1.6-3.3 percent.
                                
 A.P. Moller-Maersk <MAERSKb.CO> fell 8.1 percent after the
Danish shipping and oil group said it aims to tap investors for
close to $1.8 billion through a share placement to boost its
financial flexibility. [ID:nL2424408]
                                
 Alcatel-Lucent <ALUA.PA> fell 7.3 percent after the company
said it was raising the initial amount of its convertible bond
issue to 870 million euros.
                                
 Heavyweight BP <BP.L> limited the index's losses after it
made a "giant" oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, reaffirming
the area's importance to Western oil majors. Its shares rose 4.2
percent. [ID:nL2530648]
                                
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE> closed 0.04
percent lower; Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> and France's CAC-40
<.FCHI> were down 0.1 and 0.3 percent respectively.
                                
 (Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; editing by David
Cowell)