* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.8 percent; ends lower for 4th day
* Utilities slip; energy shares track weaker crude
* Financials, miners advance
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - European equities ended down for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, led lower by utilities and energy shares, as investors remained nervous ahead of earnings figures and worries about the pace of global economic recovery.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares finished 0.8 percent lower at 826.36 points after rising to a high of 840.27. But the index, which fell 45 percent in 2008, is still up 28 percent since hitting a record low in early March.
Utilities shares were among top decliners, with GDF Suez, E.ON, National Grid and Centrica slipping 1.6-3.8 percent.
Energy shares tracked crude oil prices, which fell 2 percent to trade below $63 a barrel. Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Cairn Energy fell 1.1-1.6 percent.
Elsewhere in the sector, Repsol fell 1.6 percent, in line with broader market. Sources said on Tuesday that China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), the country's largest oil company, could pay up to $14.5 billion for 75 percent of Spanish oil major's Argentine unit YPF.
"The markets are in a consolidation mode," said Andrew Bell, head of research at Rensburg Sheppards. "To propel the markets higher, we have got to see evidence of the turning point in earnings and of the recovery and economic growth moving from less bad to a little bit better."
"I think that so much stimulus has been thrown at these economies that the risk of a significant downside disappointment is quite limited," he added.
The OECD said that governments risk killing economic recovery if they withdraw stimulus spending too fast, and added that the name of the game was to move from policy-driven recovery to a self-sustaining growth.
However, Germany provided a glimmer of hope for a global recovery, reporting an upturn in manufacturing orders.
Pharmaceutical stocks, generally seen as defensive shares, also slipped. GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Roche fell 0.5-1.1 percent.
"We are bouncing around on very low volumes," said Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners, in London. "We may continue moving sideways for many months. The worst of the crisis may be over, but we're not seeing recovery."
DRUGMAKERS, BANKS GAIN
Financial stocks gained ground, however. Standard Chartered , Barclays, BNP Paribas, Natixis and Commerzbank rose 0.9-2.9 percent.
The banking sector was the second biggest loser in 2008 following a financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s, but has recovered this year.
The sector has gained 17 percent in 2009 and European Union finance ministers agreed in principle on Tuesday to make capital rules for banks more flexible to reduce their likelihood of worsening boom-and-bust cycles in the economy.
Miners also advanced. BHP Billiton, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Eurasian Natural Resources rose 0.7-2 percent.
Building materials group CRH Plc warned pretax profit nosedived in the first half and said trading would remain extremely difficult, but investors bet the worst was behind the Irish group, sending its shares 5 percent higher.
Among automobile shares, BMW fell 0.6 percent after group vehicles sales fell 12.7 percent in June to 127,546 units, bringing the first-half decline to 19.5 percent amid a sharp economic slump.
Across Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 were down 0.2-1.2 percent. (Additional reporting by Dominic Lau and Brian Gorman; editing by Simon Jessop)