RTRS: European stocks end at 5-1/2 year closing low
* FTSEurofirst 300 ends 2.6 pct lower, down 12 pct on week
* Pharma, utilities, telecoms take a beating
* Banks hit on rising fears over future of Citigroup
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, Nov 21 (Reuters) - European stocks slipped in a broad selloff on Friday, dropping for the seventh time in nine sessions, with fresh fears over the financial sector knocking down banking shares such as Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
Pharmaceutical stocks, which had been resilient over the past few weeks, took a beating, with Novartis (NOVN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 6.4 percent and Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) falling 10 percent.
Other sectors seen as defensive also got hit, with telecoms operator Vodafone (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) losing 7.7 percent, and utilities group EDF (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) falling 6 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares closed 2.6 percent lower at 760.97 points, its lowest closing level in 5-1/2 years.
The index, which is down nearly 50 percent in 2008, lost 12 percent on the week --its third consecutive week of losses-- amid rising concerns over the prospect of a deep global downturn.
"We're seeing fairly violent sector rotations, with the pharma sector under pressure today, while a number of banking shares were also hit by ongoing fears over the sector. Markets are really erratic, with a clear downtrend," said Benoit De Broissia, analyst at KBL Richelieu, in Paris.
"Beyond worrying about recession and corporate results, people have now started to worry about balance sheets, and not just banks' balance sheets," he said.
Renewed fears over the future of Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) knocked European financial shares lower, with SocGen plummeting 13.4 percent, ING Groep (ING.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 6.8 percent and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 2.9 percent.
Citigroup shares tumbled for a fifth straight day on Wall Street, as Chief Executive Vikram Pandit tried to downplay speculation the banking giant might sell major businesses to restore its health and investor confidence.
Bucking the trend, Bank of Ireland (BKIR.I: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) jumped 24 percent after saying it had received unsolicited bid approaches from unnamed groups, fuelling speculation over government plans for consolidation in the sector.
Mining shares also rallied, reversing some of the recent sharp losses sparked by fears that a global slowdown would dent the world's appetite for commodities.
Around Europe, Germany's DAX index .GDAXI lost 2.2 percent, UK's FTSE 100 index .FTSE dropped 2.4 percent, and France's CAC 40 .FCHI fell 3.3 percent.
Gloomy macroeconomic data added to investors' concerns on Friday, showing the euro zone services and manufacturing business activity sinking much further and faster than expected in November to record lows, pushing some economists to call for larger rate cuts from the European Central Bank.
"If there was any doubt that the euro area economy is contracting at an unprecedented pace, today's flash PMI numbers provided further evidence. Both manufacturing and services flash PMI releases came in far below expectations," UBS analysts wrote in a note.
"Both the contemporary output/business and forward-looking orders/expectations components fell to their lowest levels ever recorded ... This is deep in contraction territory," they wrote. (Reporting by Blaise Robinson, editing by Will Waterman)
