European shares end lower in thin trade ECB eyed

MARKETS-EUROPE-STOCKS-CLOSE:European shares end lower in thin trade ECB eyed

European stocks fell on Wednesday, further retreating from 13-month highs hit earlier this week, as investors awaited details on the European Central Bank's plan to buy Spanish and Italian debt before further increasing their exposure to equities.

Cyclical shares were among the biggest losers, with miners Anglo American down 3.7 percent and Rio Tinto down 2.7 percent, as surprisingly soft export data from Japan rekindled fears over the pace of global growth.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares unofficially ended 1.2 percent lower at 1,096.31 points in low volumes, suffering its first real bout of profit-taking in nearly three weeks during which the benchmark rallied more than 5 percent.

"It's interesting to see that despite the strong gains of the past month, we still haven't seen any real correction. It shows the strength of the rally, although things could quickly change in September," Kepler Capital Markets trader Patrice Perois said.

"Volumes are not great, but we're seeing clients slowly increasing their long positions, something that could accelerate in the next few days."