European shares fell by midday on Thursday after data showing a record decline in euro zone industrial orders dimmed hopes that the economic downturn may soon come to an end.

At 1120 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 was 1.3 percent lower at 842.22 points, giving back some of the 2.4 percent gain posted in the previous session.

The index has rebounded more than 30 percent since hitting a record low on March 9, and is on track to post the best quarterly gain since late 1999, but is still down 48 percent from the multi-year peak reached in mid-2007.

"The equities market had been a one-way bet but now there are doubts about the recovery, given recent forecasts from the World Bank and the OECD," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, strategist at Charles Stanley.

"This is the time of year when analysts revise their earnings for next year. They had earnings growth of 20 percent for 2010, but given the backdrop, that looks unlikely." Investors nerves were also rattled by comments on Wednesday from the Federal Reserve, which warned that U.S economic weakness would remain for a time while keeping interest rates close to zero.

Banks were a major drag on the index. Standard Chartered fell 3.1 percent after the Asia-focused lender reported record levels of income and profit in the first five months of this year but warned wholesale credit quality had deteriorated in the second quarter..

HSBC, which also has a strong Asia focus, fell 1.4 percent. UBS and Credit Suisse shed between 4.3 and 3.5 percent. French bank Credit Agricole dropped 4.9 percent on market talk that the lender's results could come in lower than analysts' consensus, traders said. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment.

Drugmakers were also under pressure, led by falls in Sanofi-Aventis, which shed 2.9 percent, as analysts cited concerns that its key blockbuster diabetes treatment Lantus might be linked to cancer risk. Officials at Sanofi said the drug was safe.

GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis fell 1.2 and 2.5 percent respectively.

Telecoms stocks fell after Goldman Sachs downgraded the European telecom services sector to "neutral" from "attractive".

Vodafone, Telenor and TeliaSonera shed between 1.1 and 1.7 percent.

Bucking the trend, shares in Telecom Italia gained 3 percent, supported by an upgrade to "buy" from "neutral" by Milan broker Equita, and as Goldman Sachs added the stock to its "Conviction Buy list".

Energy shares were mostly lower. Royal Dutch Shell fell 1.3 percent after Nigeria's main militant group raided its pipeline and disrupted a major export terminal.

BASF, the world's largest chemicals maker, fell 3.3 percent after saying it will dismantle a plant producing plastics for packaging, stepping up efforts to cut capacity as demand shows little signs of recovery.

BOUYGUES GAINS

Among the gainers, France's Bouygues rose 3.7 percent after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the stock to "buy" from "neutral".

Swedish clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz gained 1.4 percent after posting second-quarter profits above market expectations.

Porsche surged 4.6 percent, propelled by renewed speculation that the carmaker was close to a deal with Qatar to give the Gulf state a shareholding in Volkswagen, a move that would clear the way for the two German manufacturers to merge.

Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index was down 0.8 percent, Germany's DAX index down 1.4 percent, and France's CAC 40 down 1.3 percent.

Pessimism about the pace of economic recovery intensified as euro zone new industrial orders plunged 35.5 percent year-on-year in April, a record decline led by falling demand for capital and immediate goods

Orders fell 1.0 percent month-on-month. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a flat monthly reading and a 32.3 percent year-on-year fall.