* FTSEurofirst 300 index ends flat
* Capita rises on Capgemini MoU
* Philips falls on cautious targets
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - European shares ended flat on Tuesday, with outsource firm Capita higher after investors were reassured about public sector contracts, while Dutch group Philips fell as it gave cautious targets.
Although the market got some support after better-than-expected U.S. retail sales, investors remained unconvinced about shifting into riskier asset classes and gold, which is viewed as a safe haven, hit a record high.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed 0.03 percent lower at 1,087.63 points, after closing on Monday at its highest level since late April.
"We still look like we are trading in a tight range and investors are focused on short-term news flow," said David Hussey, head of Pan European Equities at MFC Global Investment Management (Europe).
"Investors are still cautious as not so long ago the market was worried about a double-dip recession, and if we get more bad news the equity markets could react badly again. We are just bouncing around until we know what type of recovery it will be."
Outsourcing group Capita gained 2.9 percent after Capgemini UK announced it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK government, which reassured investors about public sector contracts.
Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa surged 9.6 percent tracking recent gains in larger Danish peer Vestas, as rumours of consolidation in the sector reinforced positive investment and contract news, dealers and analysts said.
Vestas Wind was 3.4 percent higher.
PHILIPS SLIPS
Dutch electronics company Philips fell 3.9 percent, after the company unveiled growth targets which analysts said were not ambitious.
"Vision 2015 does not contain a major surprise; the targets are slightly more cautious than we had expected," SNS Securities analyst Victor Bareno said.
Shares in British chip designer ARM Holdings fell 4 percent on Tuesday after traders pointed to insider selling. Directors and executives of the company sold shares on Friday and Monday.
Utility shares featured among the worst performers. German utilities RWE and E.ON slipped 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, with traders citing a flurry of negative analyst notes that weigh on the companies.
UniCredit downgraded E.ON to "hold" from "buy", and traders said Societe Generale cut RWE to "sell" from "hold".
The Euro STOXX 50, the euro zone's blue-chip index, was 0.05 percent higher at 2,806.47 points, holding above the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of the index's fall from an April high to a May low.
The STOXX Europe 600 one-year forward price-to-earnings stood at about 9.89 against a 10-year average of 13.62, Thomson Reuters Datastream showed.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was 0.03 percent higher, Germany's DAX gained 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent. (Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Sharon Lindores)