European stocks fall for fifth day, hit 10-week low

* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.5 pct, down for 5th straight day

* Defensives gain

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]

By Brian Gorman

LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) - European shares fell at noon on Wednesday, losing ground for the fifth straight session, as investors digested further confirmation that significant economic recovery is still some way off.

At 1046 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was down 0.5 percent at 822.15 points, and had hit a 10-week low of 820.01 earlier. The fifth consecutive drop also marked the index's longest losing streak since mid-January.

The economies of the 16-nation euro zone, and that of the 27-nation European Union, declined at rates of 2.5 and 2.4 percent respectively in the first quarter, it was confirmed by Eurostat, the EU statistics agency. [ID:nBRQ007429]

The heavyweight banking sector took most points off the index. BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Banco Santander (SAN.MC), Barclays (BARC.L), HSBC (HSBA.L), UBS (UBSN.VX) and UniCredit CRD.MI fell between 0.4 and 2.4 percent.

Insurers were also lower, notably Aviva (AV.L), AXA (AXAF.PA) and Legal & General (LGEN.L), down between 3.3 and 3.9 percent.

"What we've had is a clear re-evaluation on the prospects of economic recovery," said Bob Parker, vice chairman of asset management at Credit Suisse. "Market expectations were too optimistic on the pace of recovery, which we think will be painfully slow, though we are out of recession.

"What we've seen this week is the refocusing on European unemployment nearing 10 percent."

The European benchmark index is still up more than 27 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, but the rally has stalled in recent weeks.

DEFENSIVES GAIN

With mounting doubts over the prospect of a quick economic recovery, investors' focus is turning to sectors seen as more defensive, such as healthcare, telecoms and utilities.