Global recovery concerns linger as FTSE retreats

* FTSE down 0.8 percent

* Retailers fall on outlook, Kingfisher down after update

* Outsourcer Serco rises on bullish Credit Suisse note

By David Brett

LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 fell on Thursday as investors continued to react to the swathe of downbeat global economic data in the previous session, which cast doubt over the global economic recovery.

Retailers, which are fundamentally exposed to the health of the economy, were among the top fallers with Europe's biggest home improvements retailer Kingfisher Plc 2.5 percent lower.

Despite reporting a 19 percent rise in retail profit, Kingfisher remained cautious on its outlook, which prompted Investec to forecast profit taking on the stock due to the lack of upgrades to estimates. [ID:nLDE75102C]

FTSE 250 <.FTMC> peer Home Retail shed 2.3 percent, while online fashion retailer ASOS slipped 10.6 percent after its own full-year results, which analysts said failed to justify the shares' bloated valuation (89 times forward PE).

By 1053 GMT, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was off 44.27 points, or 0.8 percent, at 5,884.34.

London's blue chip index extended Wednesday's 1 percent slide, which came after a below-forecast U.S. ADP private employment report and a weak ISM survey. They followed bleak PMI data in the UK and Europe.

As risk sentiment suffered commodity stocks <.FTNMX1770> <.FTNMX0530> and banks <.FTNMX8350> fell.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Thursday after sharp declines in the previous session.

Investors, however, were wary of taking too bullish a position ahead of U.S. weekly jobless claims, due at 1230 GMT, and more importantly non-farm payrolls data due out on Friday.

"The data over the last few days has been shockingly bad. A lot of people are now wondering whether there is any sort of recovery going on, which has put the mockers on equities," said David Morrison, market strategist at GFT Global.

But Morrison said should the non-farm payrolls disappoint on Friday the calls for QE3 in the U.S. will get louder, which would see investors rush back towards equities.

BULL HOPES

Phil Roberts, chief European technical strategist at Barclays Capital, sees enough bull support, supported by yields, to stop Britain's FTSE 100 falling too far below 5,850, and keeping within its 250-point trading it's been in since mid-April.

He said at the very least the FTSE would have to close below its 200-day moving average of around 5,790 or more importantly the trend line of 5,717, before he started getting concerned.

London-based outsourcer Serco gained 2.8 percent as Credit Suisse upgraded its target price and estimates for the outsourcing group, following its recent acquisition of Indian private sector outsourcer Intelent.

"Emerging markets represent a considerable and growing proportion of the world economy and offer significant return potential," said Morgan Harting, a senior portfolio manager at Alliance Bernstein, which has around $477 billion under management.

Peer Capita rose 0.8 percent.

Upbeat broker sentiment also gave Experian a lift, up 0.6 percent, as Nomura started coverage of the credit information firm with a "buy" rating highlighting a clear growth strategy.

Back on the downside, British chip designer ARM dipped 3 percent, in a weaker European market for tech stocks <.SX8P>, despite Microsoft giving a glimpse of Windows 8, which will run on ARM architecture. [ID:nN01212238] (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)