Europe shares snap two-day slide; Novo Nordisk rallies

* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.6 pct after losing 1.9 pct in 2 days

* Euro zone shares recover as euro falls back

* Novo Nordisk (LSE: 0QIU.L - news) up 8.6 pct after deciding to submit drug data

By Blaise Robinson

PARIS, March 27 (Reuters) - European stocks rose in early trade on Friday, halting a sharp two-day retreat as a renewed fall in the euro helped boost exporters' shares.

Denmark's Novo Nordisk featured among the top gainers, up 13 percent after the pharmaceutical firm said it would submit interim data from a clinical trial of its crucial new insulin drug Tresiba to U.S. regulators within the next month.

At 0827 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.6 percent at 1,583.03 points.

European stocks tumbled in the past two sessions, with the FTSEurofirst 300 losing 1.9 percent as a rebounding euro currency prompted investors to cash in recent sharp gains.

The euro fell back on Friday, trading at $1.0811, well below Thursday's intraday high of $1.10525. European shares have strongly rallied in the past six months as investors bet a sharp drop in the currency would boost the region's economy and lift corporate results.

"The impact from the lower euro, and also from lower oil prices, will be quite significant on European earnings and is set to support the market for a while," said Arnaud Scarpaci, fund manager at Montaigne Capital.

"The market is also set to see further cash coming from foreign investors, especially Asian and Middle-Eastern investors as they increase their exposure to Europe."

The euro is down about 20 percent against the dollar over the past year, which is set to give euro zone companies a major lift as roughly 50 percent of their earnings come from outside the region.

The single currency had retreated on prospects of a quantitative easing campaign from the European Central Bank, which was launched earlier this month, contrasting with the trajectory of monetary policy in the United States where the Federal Reserve is seen raising interest rates this year.

Mining shares bucked the trend on Friday, with Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) down 1.1 percent and Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) down 2.3 percent.

An industry official said three-quarters of China's domestic iron ore capacity was incurring losses, as a sustained slump in the price of the steelmaking commodity batters higher-cost producers.

Europe bourses in 2015: http://link.reuters.com/pap87v

Asset performance in 2015: http://link.reuters.com/gap87v

Today's European research round-up

(editing by John Stonestreet)