European shares trim gains after mixed U.S. data

LONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - European shares trimmed gains on Thursday afternoon as mixed U.S. economic data cast a shadow on the state of the world's largest economy.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods in August fell by the most in 3-1/2 years and the final second quarter gross domestic product reading was below expectations .

Partly offsetting that weak data, the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to the lowest level in two months, a hopeful sign for a labor market that has struggled to gain traction in recent months.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.4 percent at 1,103.05 points by 1234 GMT after trading as high as 1,099.11 earlier in the session.