* FTSEurofirst 300 ends 5-day winning run
* Moody's cuts outlook on global pharma sector
* Evonik falls after disappointing update
* Telecom Italia shares rise
(Updates with closing prices)
By Danilo Masoni
MILAN, March 3 (Reuters) - European shares fell back on
Thursday, with chemicals maker Evonik EVKn.DE and major
healthcare stocks among the worst performers, halting a run of
five straight days of gains.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 , which
reached a one-month high earlier this week, slid 0.5 percent.
The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index .STOXX50E also
weakened by 0.3 percent.
Evonik slid 6.3 percent after flagging a decline in 2016
adjusted core earnings.
Major healthcare stocks such as Roche ROG.VX and
GlaxoSmithKline GSK.L also fell after credit rating agency
Moody's cut its outlook on the global pharmaceuticals industry
to "stable" from "positive".
After a turbulent start to the year due to worries about
global growth and the health of the banking sector, European
stock markets enjoyed a recent rally as oil prices recovered and
fears over a U.S. economic slowdown abated.
However, the FTSEurofirst remains down 7 percent so far in
2016, and some analysts said more signs that the global economy
was on a firmer footing were needed to push markets higher.
"For markets to continue to move higher, more good data,
especially out of the U.S., will be needed," said Markus Huber,
a trader at City of London Markets.
JC Decaux JCDX.PA climbed 3.8 percent after the French
advertising company forecast organic revenue growth of around 9
percent in the first quarter of this year and proposed a 12
percent hike in its 2015 dividend.
Telecom Italia TLIT.MI also surged 6 percent after a
Bloomberg News report that the position of its chief executive
was being reviewed by the Italian phone company's biggest
investor Vivendi VIV.PA . Telecom Italia declined to comment.
Today's European research round-up RCH/EUROPE