U.S. rate hike worries push European shares to 3-1/2-month low

* Pan-European FTSEurofirst index down 0.9 pct

* Investors spooked by prospect of September rate rise

* Amadeus falls as Air France (Paris: FR0000031122 - news) mulls ticket levy

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - European shares slipped to a 3-1/2-month low on Tuesday in a global equities sell-off on mounting concern over the impact of a U.S. rate hike cycle from as early as September.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares fell for a sixth straight session and was down 0.9 percent at 1,515.15 points by 1405 GMT after falling to a low of 1,507.72, the lowest since mid-February. The index has fallen more than 7 percent in the past two weeks.

The sell-off followed a fall in U.S. shares on Monday and in Asia overnight, following a series of encouraging recent U.S. reports. They included stronger-than-expected May jobs data, prompting expectations of a Fed rate hike in September, sooner than some had expected.

"We have had a pickup in some of the U.S. economic indicators and this development tends to go hand in hand with increasing rate hikes fears," said Robert Parkes, equity strategist at HSBC Global Research.

"We are not dismissing the potential for short-term volatility, but fundamentally we see the market remaining supported in the longer term.

"We expect earnings growth to come in significantly ahead of expectations this year and that, combined with the ongoing quantitative easing in Europe, will keep the bull market intact."

Deutsche Bank (Xetra: 514000 - news) led the decliners in Europe and fell 3.5 percent after Germany's top lender said its offices in Frankfurt had been searched by German prosecutors seeking evidence related to client securities transactions.

Spain's Amadeus fell 3.4 percent to 35.45 euros as Air France-KLM (Other OTC: AFLYY - news) said it was considering following a move by Lufthansa to levy a charge on tickets booked via third parties on global distribution systems.

Travel IT firm Amadeus would have to use a different system to avoid the charge. Its stock is down nearly 15 percent in June, with broker Kepler Chevreux cutting its target price on Amadeus to 39.20 euros from 43 euros, saying Lufthansa's move had added uncertainties to Amadeus' outlook.

"This new strategy raises concerns about the whole business model of GDS companies," analysts at the brokerage said in a note.

"Lufthansa's move could be used as a marketing tool by other companies, which will be keeping a close eye on how things pan out."

HSBC fell 1 percent after investors and analysts questioned whether the pledge to shed almost 50,000 jobs would be enough to lift earnings.

Investors also kept an eye on negotiations between Greece and its international creditors. The European Commission has received a new proposal from Greece on Tuesday, the day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that time was running out for a reform-for-aid deal to keep the country in the euro.

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

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

Today's European research round-up (Additional reporting by Alistair Smout and Liisa Tuhkanen; editing by Andrew Roche)