European shares fall amid receding hopes of imminent Greek deal

* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.4 pct

* Car (HKSE: 0699.HK - news) makers hit by stronger euro after dovish Fed

* SAP (Swiss: SAP.SW - news) falls as Oracle (NYSE: ORCL - news) forcasts disappointing profits

By Francesco Canepa

LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - European shares fell in early deals on Thursday as hopes of a deal between Greece and its creditors at a planned meeting later in the day receded, further straining investor nerves after weeks of fruitless negotiations.

Hopes of a breakthrough at Thursday's gathering of European finance ministers, once seen as the last opportunity for an agreement, looked increasingly remote.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.4 percent at 1,516.44 points at 0734 GMT, falling for the fourth of the past five sessions. The index is down nearly 7 percent since late May.

"People are starting to get worried and there is a bit of taking risk off," said Mike Reuter, a trader at Tradition.

"But there is still support for the market for the next four to five weeks," he added, citing bond-purchases by the European Central Bank and high cash levels waiting to be reinvested.

Worries about the Greek crisis and its potential impact on the rest of the euro zone more than offset the more positive sentiment coming from Wall Street, where U.S. shares ended slightly higher after a more dovish-than-expected message from the Federal Reserve.

By weakening the dollar against the euro, the Fed's message had a negative implication for euro zone exporters. Auto and parts makers were down 1.2 percent.

German software maker SAP, down 1.6 percent, was one of the biggest drags on the FTSEurofirst after rival Oracle Corp forecast quarterly profit below analysts' estimates.

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 Gareth Jones)