* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.3 pct, posts 1.5 pct loss on week
* Nestle's forecast-beating sales boost food stocks
* Fresh jitters on Greece spark profit taking on peripherals
* Volatility index signals risk appetite on the rise
* Outflows seen on Euro STOXX 50 trackers year-to-date
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, April 15 (Reuters) - European stocks ended slightly
higher on Friday, but posted their first weekly loss in a month
as the return of worries over the euro zone debt crisis prompted
investors to book recent lofty gains on peripheral equities.
Food and beverage stocks featured among the top gainers
after the world's No. 1 food group Nestle <NESN.VX> reported
forecast-beating quarterly sales, sending its shares up 2.4
percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
ended 0.3 percent higher at 1,131.72 points, while posting a
loss of 1.5 percent for the week.
The Thomson Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index
<.TRXFLDPIPU> fell 0.8 percent on Friday following Moody's
downgrade of Ireland's debt rating and on growing concerns that
Greece won't be able to avert a debt restructuring.
"Down the road, a Greek debt restructuring seems inevitable,
and it looks like they are trying to slowly prepare the market
for it. Would it be the end of the world? I don't think so,"
said Patrice Perois, trader at Kepler Capital Markets in Paris.
The head of the euro zone bailout fund EFSF, Klaus Regling,
said in comments released on Friday that he saw no need for a
quick restructuring of Greece's debt.
"Markets are convinced Greece will not be able to handle its
debt at some point," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
newspaper. "But we know that markets can be wrong and are very
volatile," he added.
Greece's main stock index <> dropped 1.3 percent, while
the Greek/German 10-year government bond yield spread widened
sharply.
But despite its 2.9 percent retreat this week, the Thomson
Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index is still up nearly
16 percent so far this year, outpacing the broader European
equity indexes.
The recent pull-back has been seen as a bit of profit taking
rather than a the return of investor's risk aversion, a
sentiment confirmed by the sharp drop in the Euro STOXX 50
volatility index <.V2TX>. Europe's main fear gauge hit a
near-four month low on Friday.
Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index <> gained 0.5
percent, Germany's DAX index <> rose 0.4 percent, and
France's CAC 40 <> added 0.1 percent.
Ludovic Djebali, head of sales for UK, France, Benelux and
Southern Europe at Source, a provider of European
exchange-traded funds (ETF), said data shows significant
outflows from European ETFs tracking euro zone benchmarks such
as the Euro STOXX 50 <> so far this year, while ETFs
tracking the broader STOXX 600 index <> have seen inflows.
"One of the major themes we've seen has been a spike in
buying of ETFs tracking Russian equities as investors look to
play the oil and gas story on different fronts," he said.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson)
