* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.2 percent; hits 1-week low
* Miners among top losers on weaker metals prices
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By Atul Prakash
LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - European shares were slightly lower on Wednesday after hitting one-week lows as a decline in metals prices on uncertainty about global raw material demand hurt mining stocks, although retailers supported the market.
Britain's No. 2 fashion retailer Next, up 4.5 percent, led the sector higher after raising its guidance, with first-quarter sales beating expectations. The sector index rose 1.1 percent.
Analysts said that despite some profit-taking in early trading, equities had potential to set new highs going forward, with strong company earnings and favourable equity valuations seen underpinning the market.
At 0933 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.2 percent at 1,148.74 points after touching 1,144.10, the lowest since April 27. The index fell 0.5 percent on Tuesday after rising to a two-month high on Monday.
Miners topped the decliners' list, tracking metals prices that fell on concerns about economic uncertainty and a rise in the dollar. The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Materials index dipped 0.9 percent, while Antofagasta fell 6.8 percent.
"Looking forward into the back end of this year, equities are still in a cyclical bull market and there is no ending signal yet. The market will also get support from earnings," said Bernard McAlinden, strategist at NCB Stockbrokers.
About 53 percent of companies on the STOXX Europe 600 index that have so far released first-quarter results have posted in-line or above-forecast earnings, data from Thomson Reuters StarMine showed.
German industrial conglomerate Siemens raised its full-year outlook after results, BMW beat expectations on the back of continued strong demand for luxury cars, and BNP Paribas beat estimates for revenue and earnings, driven by strong retail growth and resilient investment banking.
BMW shares gained 1.3 percent, while BNP was up 2.5 percent. Siemens fell 1.1 percent as traders said its new outlook was already priced in..
Banking shares were slightly up in high volumes, with the sector index up 0.1 percent.
TECHNICAL OUTLOOK
The Euro STOXX 50, an index of the euro zone's top blue chips, was flat at 3,000.19 points.
"The index has run into some selling pressure before getting back to its 52-week highs and that raises the question of whether the rally is already losing upside momentum," said Bill McNamara, technical analyst at Charles Stanley.
A clear reversal in the slow stochastic, a short-term trend indicator, supported this view although this was not necessarily fatal to the bull case, he said, adding the bulls will justify in remaining 'long' as long as the index maintained the uptrend.
Lothar Mentel, chief investment officer at Octopus Investments, which manages 2.5 billion pounds ($4.12 billion), said company valuations were still well supported and there was good potential for stocks to go higher, unless investors grow more concerns about the sustainability of the economic recovery.
"As of now there isn't too much to be seen that it's going wrong, but some of the leading indicators had wobbled over April. We are not out of the woods yet on that one."
According to Thomson Reuters Datastream, the STOXX Europe 600 carries a one-year forward price-to-earnings of about 10.9, against a 10-year average of 13.5.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.5 percent, but Portugal's PSI 20 rose 1.8 percent, outperforming the wider market, after the country reached a deal with the European Union and the IMF on a 78 billion euro bailout.
Investors kept an eye on commodity trader Glencore International, which will seek to raise as much as $11 billion from its London and Hong Kong IPO. (Additional reporting by Harpreet Bhal; Editing by Hans Peters)