Eurostoxx 50: 2,954.13 (-35.62) Frankfurt DAX: 7,102.80 (-52.78) Paris CAC: 4,002.32 (-57.25)EUROPEAN SHARES dopped yesterday on concern that growth may be limited as protests in Egypt escalated and a pick-up in US consumer spending failed to excite markets in the face of a weaker than expected overall GDP figure.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed down 1 per cent at 1,143.63 points, its lowest close since January 20th, after gaining in the previous two sessions.

Underpinning the late sell-off was investor caution about access to the Suez Canal, crucial to Europe’s imports of oil and Asian goods, as clashes escalated between government forces and protesters demanding the removal of president Hosni Mubarak.

U.S. GDP gained 3.2 percent in the final three months of 2010, a touch below expectations.

Consumer spending posted its biggest gain in more than four years.

Miners were on the decline as investors stuck to a cautious view on the global economy. Vedanta, Anglo American and Kazakhmys had loses of between 2.3 per cent to 4.5 per cent.

Crude jumped 4.3 per cent on the Egypt worries, but oil stocks fell as concerns weighed about what the unrest could mean for future growth prospects.

BG Group, Cairn Energy and Petrofac lost between 3.2 and 4.2 per cent.

Elsewhere on the downside, French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis fell 3.8 per cent after BSI-201, an experimental drug to treat a type of advanced breast cancer in its research pipeline failed in late-stage clinical trials.

TUI Travel lost 4.5 per cent after French broker Natixis downgraded its rating for European’s biggest travel company to “neutral” from “buy”.

Spain’s Criteria jumped 16.9 per cent on news of La Caixa’s plans to transfer its banking business – which accounts for about 8 per cent of Spain’s banking system – to the publicly listed holding company.

Spanish property companies also surged after the news. Reyal Urbis, Metrovacesa, Colonial and Quabit were up by between 2.1 per cent and 9.8 per cent.

Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 1.4 per cent, Germany’s DAX was 0.7 per cent lower and France’s CAC 40 was 1.4 per cent down. – (Reuters)