European shares down on Nokia, pharma stocks

FRANKFURT, April 17 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Thursday, led lower by Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research) after the world's biggest maker of mobile phones failed to impress investors with its outlook, dragging down other technology and telecom stocks.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 0.6 percent at 1,295.32 points. The index had started the day in positive territory, but turned by midday, mainly on Nokia's results and outlook.

"It all started with Nokia. Nokia's sentiment leads the way in Europe. And this also has an impact on telecoms stocks," said Christian Stocker, equity strategist at UniCredit Global Research.

Nokia shares fell 13.6 percent after it said it expects the mobile market to fall in euro terms this year. The DJ Stoxx European technology sector index fell 6.3 percent and the DJ Stoxx Telecom index was down 1.7 percent.

Pharmaceutical shares were the second-weakest sector in Europe, and the European pharmaceuticals sector was down 1.5 percent mainly on disappointing results from Pfizer (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Roche (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), which also weighed on AstraZeneca (AZN.L: Quote, Profile, Research) shares.

Banking shares bucked the trend and gained ground, helped by expectations for a mortgage rescue plan by British authorities. British lender Alliance & Leicester (ALLL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 1.4 percent and HBOS (HBOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) gained 2 percent.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) was the standout loser among UK banks, falling 2.4 percent, as traders cited market speculation about a possible rights issue. RBS was not immediately available for comment.

Elsewhere Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) added 4.3 percent as traders cited renewed talk that rival Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) could launch a takeover bid. Credit Agricole officials are not immediately available for comment, and a spokeswoman of Societe Generale declined to comment.

An upgrade from Goldman Sachs also helped the stock.