Banks, techs lead European shares to lower close

LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - European shares closed lower on Thursday, driven by weaker banks and technology stocks on concerns of further writedowns at HBOS HBOS.L and market talk of lowered guidance at ASML (ASML.AS).

A weaker-than-expected reading of the Philadelphia Fed survey further weighed on stocks, as did a comment from Citigroup (C.N) Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden at an investor conference that the bank could have substantial writedowns in the second quarter.

"It's pretty grim. For a reasonable part of the United States, the economic signals are not encouraging," said Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, adding that sectors with pricing power such as miners, chemicals and some food producers offered better value for money in this difficult market environment.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of top European shares ended unofficially down 0.4 percent at 1,245.92 points.

Banks were the largest decliners by weight with HBOS HBOS.L shedding 7 percent after warning of a 1 billion pound ($1.96 billion) writedown in its first half as a fall in house prices put pressure on bad debts.

"There are some reassurances but enough uncertainty to limit the likelihood of any material rebound in the share price over coming weeks," Barclays Wealth said in a note on HBOS's trading statement.

Other financials also came under pressure with Alliance & Leicester ALLL.L down 5.3 percent and UBS (UBSN.VX) down 3.7 percent.

Santander lost 0.9 percent after three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that Spain's biggest lender was considering a takeover bid for Dresdner.

Technology stocks fell sharply with the DJ Stoxx European technology index .SX8P 2.2 percent lower amid market talk of a profit warning at semiconductor equipment maker ASML (ASML.AS), which dropped 6.4 percent.

Traders pointed to speculation the company was lowering its forecasts for margins to 36-38 percent from 40 percent. The company declined to comment.

(Reporting by Patrizia Kokot)