European shares snap losing streak after choppy day; Morrisons top gainer

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* STOXX 600 rises 0.6 pct after touching six-week lows

* Morrisons leads gainers as company returns to profit

* But Next, H&M, Tod's fall on disappointing earning updates

* Lackluster US data further slim odds of immediate rate hike

By Danilo Masoni and Sudip Kar-Gupta

MILAN/LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday at the end of a choppy session that saw a key index hit a six-week low, with UK supermarket Morrisons leading gainers following a strong earnings update.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index, which had fallen for the last five days in a row amid concerns over tighter monetary policies, ended up 0.6 percent.

The index slipped as much as 0.1 percent earlier in the session to its lowest point since Aug. 4, but later recovered as Wall Street rose on the back of lacklustre economic data which further slimmed chances of an immediate rate hike.

Futures prices reduced the chances of a Federal Reserve rate hike at the Sept 20-21 meeting to just 12 percent from 15 percent, according to the CME Group (Kuala Lumpur: 7018.KL - news) 's FedWatch tool.

Bankhaus Lampe strategist Ralf Zimmermann said he expected the Fed to raise rates in December or February but should there be an earlier hike it would be a negative surprise for many.

He said was downbeat about the prospects for equities due to a mix of factors from softer economic data, stagnating earnings and political risks including Italy's upcoming constitutional referendum and the U.S. election in November.

"There is more short-term downside to come as risks continue to dominate. The next 10 percent move is much more likely to be to the downside than to the upside," he said.

British supermarket operator Morrisons rose 7.5 percent, the top performer on the STOXX 600, after the company returned to profit growth.

"A better-than-expected increase in like-for-like sales at Morrisons supermarkets saw the company deliver a very positive set of interim results which beat forecasts," said ETX Capital markets analyst Neil Wilson.

Zodiac Aerospace (LSE: 0NR6.L - news) , which has issued a string of profit warnings over the last year, also rose sharply after reporting higher than expected full-year revenues.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Next (Frankfurt: 779551 - news) fell 4.69 percent, however, after the British clothing retailer warned of volatile trading as it reported a fall in first-half profits.

Rival H&M also fell 4.2 percent after its sales growth missed analyst forecasts, while Italian luxury goods maker Tod's fell 6 percent after posting a fall in first half core profits.

Francois Savary, chief investment officer at Geneva-based fund management and consultancy firm Prime Partners, said his firm had trimmed back its equity position, given the weak economic backdrop.

"The summer rally on equities was not really backed up by volumes and we are not out of the woods yet in terms of low economic growth," said Savary. (Editing by Catherine Evans)