Europe shares close down on US data, telcos weigh

(Corrects spelling of "Telecom" in seventh paragraph)

FRANKFURT Nov 18 (Reuters) - European shares ended lower on Wednesday, dropping for a second consecutive session, as gains in mining stocks failed to offset weak U.S. macroeconomic data that showed an unexpected fall in housing starts in October.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares provisionally ended down 0.2 percent at 1,028.14 points, having hit a fresh 13-month high earlier in the trading session.

The index, which slumped 45 percent last year, is up 24 percent in 2009 and has surged 59 percent since hitting a record low in March.

The U.S. Commerce Department said housing starts fell almost 11 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000 units, the lowest level since April. [ID:nN1899353]

"Building permits from the United States were weaker than expected, but the impact was not as bad as it could have been," said Joerg Rahn, chief investment officer at wealth management company Marcard, Stein & Co.

"However, on a more general note, it is truly remarkable how unimpressed markets are at the moment. No matter whether macro data are good or bad, it seems to be shrugged off to some extent," he added.

Mobile telecommunications stocks took most points off the index and the DJ Stoxx European Telecom Index .SXKP was 0.8 percent lower, with Vodafone (VOD.L), Cable & Wireless CW.L and Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) down 0.6 to 3.4 percent. Vodafone also traded ex-dividend.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE was 0.1 percent lower, Germany's DAX .GDAXI gained 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 .FCHI fell 0.02 percent. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz)