European shares pause after brisk 2-1/2 week rally

PARIS, Aug 27 (Reuters) - European shares were steady in early trade on Wednesday, pausing after their brisk 2-1/2 week rally, with data showing German consumer morale falling for the first time in more than 1-1/2 years denting investors' appetite for stocks.

Market research group GfK said on Wednesday its forward-looking consumer sentiment indicator, based on a survey of around 2,000 Germans, fell to 8.6 going into September from a downwardly revised 8.9 in August.

At 0705 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was 0.02 percent higher at 1,376.99 points. The index has surged about 6 percent since a low hit on Aug 8.

The impact from the Ukrainian crisis and tensions between the West and Moscow were visible again in European company results on Wednesday, with Marine Harvest (NYSE: MHG - news) , the world's largest salmon farmer, saying it expected Russian sanctions, which are hurting salmon exporters, to pose short-term challenges. Its shares fell 1.1 percent. (Reporting by Blaise Robinson; editing by Francesco Canepa)