Food producers, miners drag European shares lower

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 index down 0.2 pct
                                
 * Food producers fall; Danone cuts sales growth targets
                                
 * Miners retreat as metal prices slip
                                
 
                                
 By Joanne Frearson
                                
 LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - European shares were lower in
early trade on Thursday for the third consecutive session, with
food producers leading the losers after Danone <DANO.PA> cut its
sales growth target.
                                
 By 0904 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3>
index of top shares was down 0.2 percent at 1,024.94 points. The
index, which is up 23 percent in 2009, has surged 59 percent
since reaching a record low in early March.
                                
 "We are seeing the rundown towards... the holidays. I get
the impression now there are an awful lot of people beginning to
close their books and start minimizing risk before the holiday
period," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven
Investment Management.
                                
 "Volumes are coming down, that may mean if we get any
serious news, we could get a bit of volatility coming through."
                                
 Food producers took the most points off the index. Danone
fell 4.9 percent after the company said it expected medium-term
like-for-like annual sales growth of at least 5 percent,
compared with a previous forecast of 8 to 10 percent.
[ID:nLI196384]
                                
 Nestle <NESN.VX> and Unilever <ULVR.L> were down 0.6 percent
and 0.7 percent, respectively.
                                
 
                                
 MINERS FALL
                                
 Miners were lower as metal prices retreated. Copper
<MCU3=LX> was down 0.7 percent, aluminium <MAL3=LX> fell 0.2
percent and nickel <MNI3=LX> slipped 1.8 percent.
                                
 Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP Billiton
<BLT.L>, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation <ENRC.L>, Rio
Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> were down 1.1 to 2.3 percent.
                                
 Banks also featured among the fallers after a massive
fundraising by Japan's biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial
Group <8306.T> weighed on sentiment.
                                
 HSBC <HSBA.L>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC> and UniCredit
<CRDI.MI> were down 0.3 to 0.7 percent.
                                
 However, Reckitt Benckiser Group <RB.L> gained 2.6 percent
after a report suggested Colgate-Palmolive <CL.N> could be close
to linking up with the Lysol manufacturer. [ID:nLJ550613]
                                
 World No. 2 brewer SABMiller <SAB.L> rose 2.4 percent after
it said it expected a second-half boost from a fall in the cost
of inputs such as barley and favourable currency movements after
it beat forecasts with a 6 percent rise in first-half earnings.
[ID:nLD69998]
                                
 "We believe that SABM is navigating the recession very
successfully, and is well placed to expand margins further in
FY2011 and thereafter as input cost pressures ease," Cazenove
analysts wrote in a note.
                                
 Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index was down 0.2
percent, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> was 0.1 percent lower and
France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> was down 0.3 percent.
 (Editing by Hans Peters)