Growth and bank health woes weigh on Europe stocks

* FTSEurofirst 300 down 1.9 pct to lowest close since May 15

* Financials, oil & gas, basic resources leading losers

* Defensive telecom, pharma stocks gain; Vodafone up 3.7 pct

By Peter Starck

FRANKFURT, June 17 (Reuters) - European shares fell for the fourth straight session on Wednesday amid doubts about a return to economic growth, which hammered commodity stocks, and with banks in the red on fresh concerns about U.S. financial sector health.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares fell 1.9 percent to 845.76 points -- its lowest close since May 15 -- but remains up 1.7 percent year-to-date.

"We've seen a couple of weak days but no radical sell-off," said Commerzbank Chief Strategist Hans-Juergen Delp, who attributed the downward move to a persistent discrepancy between upbeat sentiment indicators and weak real economy data.

"The sentiment indicators have been positive but have not been backed up by hard real economic data," he said.

"We need new impulses to kick off sustained gains but no such impulses are in sight."