LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - European shares fell in early trade on Friday, as investors locked in profits after the index reached a five-month closing high in the previous session, with banks the biggest losers, while data from China failed to lift investor spirits.
By 0712 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.2 percent at 886.2 points. The FTSEurofirst 300 has risen 37 percent since reaching a low in early March.
"We are in these strange times that lots of positive indicators have been coming through on macro economic indicator without the market taking account of the underlying issues of domestic recession ... (there had been) a triumph of economic data over corporate reality," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment.
China's May factory output rose more than forecast and retail sales growth accelerated, giving new impetus to investor hopes the world's third-largest economy can lead a global revival.
Banking stocks took the most points off the index. British bank Barclays lost 1.7 percent after BlackRock said on Thursday it will buy its investment arm BGI for $13.5 billion in a blockbuster deal that will create the world's biggest asset manager.
HSBC, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank were down 0.5-1 percent.
Energy stocks were lower as crude slid towards $72 a barrel, as investors locked in gains from a near eight-month high settlement a day ago. Cairn Energy, Tullow Oil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total were down 0.3-1.4 percent.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX was 0.4 percent lower and France's CAC 40 was down 0.3 percent. (Reporting by Joanne Frearson)