* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.1 percent after 7 pct gain in Q3
* Repsol surges on Sinopec deal
* Banking stocks extend three-week pull-back
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By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Europe's top stocks were slightly lower around midday on Friday, as banks extended recent losses into the fourth quarter, offsetting buoyant resource-related shares.
At 1135 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.1 percent at 1,060.12 points, while the Euro STOXX 50, the euro zone's blue-chip index, was unchanged at 2,749.45 points, after testing resistance at its 200-day moving average of 2,780.15.
Spanish oil major Repsol soared 6.4 percent after clinching a deal to sell a 40 percent stake in its Brazilian arm to Chinese oil group Sinopec for $7.1 billion.
BP rose 3.6 percent after it named the Gulf of Mexico assets it will use to help finance the $20 billion fund for victims of its oil spill and said the cost of dealing with the disaster had risen to $11.2 billion.
But the stock, which has jumped 9 percent in three sessions, is running into strong resistance around 446 pence, the lower end of a breakaway gap -- a break between prices when a stock moves sharply up or down with no trading in between -- that occurred in early June as the stock tumbled.
Major euro zone banks lost ground, hit by lingering concerns over the health of the sector that have dragged down the sector for three weeks. Banco Santander was down 1.3 percent, UniCredit down 1 percent and Natixis down 0.7 percent.
Investors are looking for direction to a batch of key U.S. economic figures, including the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index.
Analysts and traders said if the ISM reading comes weaker than expected, the downside risk for equities looks quite limited as a weak figure would boost the view that the Federal Reserve is poised to intervene to support the economic recovery.
"The market clearly anticipates more quantitative easing from the Fed; just look at the dollar," said Philippe De Vandiere, analyst at IG Markets, in Paris.
"But the problem is that consumer spending is not rebounding; companies are maintaining their margins by cutting costs and looking for external growth. So there's not much to support stocks these days."
The dollar hit its weakest against the euro since March on the view that it will face more losses if the Federal Reserve eases monetary policy further to support the economy.
Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index was up 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX index up 0.2 percent, and France's CAC 40 down 0.2 percent.
Commodity-related stocks featured among the top gainers, with Anglo American up 1.8 percent and BHP Billiton up 1.5 percent, helped by stronger-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data.
"The China data was positive and will be very good for companies exporting into the country," said Heino Ruland, strategist at Frankfurt-based Ruland Research.
BMW dropped 2.3 percent after the group said it would recall 345,000 cars because of a potential braking problem.
German retailer Metro fell 2.3 percent on news that German retail sales edged lower in August from a month earlier, missing expectations. (Additional reporting by Joanne Frearson in London; Editing by Will Waterman)