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~~~~~((#))016005000i-Stocks & Shares (World)

Eurostocks end down as data compound war concerns

LONDON: European shares ended lower for the fourth straight session on Monday, led down by volatile insurers like Munich Re, after poor US data gave investors more reason to fret over the Iraq war's impact on a frail global economy.

Strategists said they were also bracing for weak corporate news, with the first-quarter reporting season due to kick off from mid-April and company pre-announcements expected in the coming days.

"Things aren't looking good not just because the war could drag on but also because the fundamentals both at a micro and macro level are far from encouraging," said Cesar Martinez, head of international equity at Spanish fund manager GesMadrid.

The FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips ended down 3.6 percent at 743.70 points.

That left the benchmark more than 13 percent weaker on the quarter.

Although an improvement on the 24 percent and 16 percent losses seen in the third and second quarters of last year, the Eurotop's latest quarterly drop suggested recent talk of an end to the three-year old bear market may have been premature.

The Eurotop 300 surged by 19 percent after closing at its lowest level in more than six years on March 12, but shares have since retraced more than half of those gains amid signs the war in Iraq could be prolonged, potentially delaying a long-awaited pickup in company profits.

Losses were broad-based but trading volumes were again weak.

Among the standouts was Franco-American media giant Vivendi Universal, which sank 8.8 percent as it fended off a lawsuit from a major shareholder as it prepares to raise cash with a junk bond later this week.

Tech benchmarks such as Nokia and Ericsson also suffered, while auto stocks such as Volkswagen and Renault continued to wither on worries about the impact of the Iraqi war on consumer demand.

The euro zone DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index closed 4.5 percent weaker at 2,036.86 points.

INSURERS, CHIPS, DATA

Insurers tumbled after Deutsche Bank reduced its exposure to the sector, shifting funds into banking stocks.

Germany's Munich Re topped the blue chip losers board, ditching 11.2 percent amid continuing worries about its exposure to the reeling economy and tumbling equities.

Dutch insurance duo Aegon and ING fell 10.1 percent and 8.2 percent respectively, and Britain's Prudential shed 7.4 percent.

Chip-related shares were also hard hit after data showing global chip sales fell 3.3 percent in February from January, extending a seasonal decline which started in December, the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics group said.

Philips Electronics shed 6.2 percent, while Germany's Infineon dropped 6.3 percent and Franco-Italian STMicroelectronics was down 6.7 percent.

Elsewhere, shares in OTE Telecom, Greece's largest telecoms group, slid 8.5 percent to a record low after OTE said late on Friday that Chief Financial Officer Dimitris Kouvatsos had resigned.

In New York, both the Dow Jones industrial average and the tech-laced Nasdaq Composite shed 1.7 percent.

The mood was soured further by the release of data showing a sharp fall in the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index -- a key precursor to the more influential and nation-wide Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing index due on Tuesday.

The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago business barometer fell to 48.4 from 54.9 in February. A reading below 50 indicates a contracting regional manufacturing sector, while a reading above 50 signals expansion.

"The so-called 'soft spot' in the world's biggest economy is proving somewhat soggy," said Peter Ostler, head of research at futures broker Man Financial, who added that the chances of a fresh US interest rate cut had improved considerably as a result.-Reuters