* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.6 percent, down for 2nd day
* Index hits support at 38.2 pct retracement of latest rally
* BNP Paribas rises after strong results
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, May 4 (Reuters) - European stocks fell on Wednesday, adding to the previous session's retreat, as investors dropped commodity-related shares, but losses were capped as a benchmark index hit a key support level.
At 1152 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.6 percent at 1,143.41 points after hitting support at 1,141.96 points, which represents the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of the two-week rally that ended on Monday.
Repsol was down 1.6 percent while Rio Tinto fell 2.7 percent and Xstrata shed 1.9 percent.
"We're seeing reversal figures on a number of stock indices," said Day By Day chartist Valerie Gastaldy.
"The market remains in a long-term consolidation mode, so the best strategy is still to buy the dips and sell the peaks, and we've just hit a peak," she said.
After a brisk two-week rally that was marked by thin volumes, investors started to book profits on Monday while risk appetite started to drop.
Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index was down 1.1 percent, Germany's DAX index eased 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 dipped 0.4 percent.
The euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 index was down 0.5 percent at 2,986.44 points.
"The Euro STOXX 50's next major support will be 2,720 points, which represents the lower band of its recent uptrend channel as well as the index's lowest point in March," Gastaldy said.
French bank BNP Paribas was up 2.7 percent after posting forecast-beating quarterly results, while rivals Societe Generale and Credit Agricole were up 1.4 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.
"The results have everything, a rebound in volumes, a drop in provisions, good capital generation...BNP has set the bar high," said Marc Renaud, fund manager at Mandarine Gestion, with around 1 billion euros under management.
Anheuser-Busch InBev fell 2.8 percent after the world's largest brewer reported a decline in volume and a net profit lower than expected.
Carmaker BMW added 0.7 percent after posting forecast-beating results on the back of strong demand for luxury cars in China and growth in the United States.
Nearly half of the 110 STOXX Europe 600 companies that have reported first-quarter earnings so far missed analysts' forecasts, data from Thomson Reuters StarMine shows.
However, the STOXX Europe 600 offers cheaper valuations than U.S. stocks. According to Thomson Reuters Datastream, the European gauge carries a 12-month price-to-earnings of 10.9 times versus a 10-year average of 13.5 and S&P 500's 13.2. The 10-year average of S&P 500's forward P/E is 15.4 times.
"European stocks' valuation levels remain attractive, particularly compared to the kind of money you make on Bunds," said Didier Bouvignies, co-head of asset allocation at Paris-based Rothschild & Cie Gestion, which had 22 billion euros under management at the end of 2010.
"European stock markets have fallen behind U.S. stocks since 2009, and we see potential for a catch-up movement at some point. While analysts have forecast a 34 percent rise in corporate results, the Euro STOXX index has only gained 6 percent."
(Additional reporting by Lionel Laurent in Paris and Dominic Lau in London; Editing by David Cowell)