Adidas boost and strong miners keep European shares afloat

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LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - In the face of a freshprotectionist move from the U.S. causing Asian shares to fallovernight, European stocks managed a slight gain on Wednesdaythanks to strong results from Adidas and robust mining stocks.

The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.2 percent,pushed higher by consumer staples and basic materials. Spain'sIBEX lagged peers, down 0.5 percent after disappointingresults from Zara fashion chain owner Inditex.

German sports fashion company Adidas shone at thetop of the STOXX, jumping 8.8 percent after announcing a sharebuyback of up to 3 billion euros and lifting its 2020profitability target.

Technology stocks were the biggest drags on the index afterU.S. President Trump threatened to impost tariffs on up to $60billion of Chinese imports, targeting tech andtelecommunications in particular.

Basic resource stocks climbed 1.1 percent after data showedChinese industrial production expanded at a much faster pacethan expected.

UK insurer Prudential was another notable gainer, up5 percent as investors cheered its plan to spin off its UK andEuropean business, which will be listed on the FTSE 100 in itsown right.

Zara owner Inditex was the top Spanish faller, down5.1 percent after its results. Analysts at Berenberg said salesdata showed online penetration was much lower than forecast.

Shares in Belgian postal service Bpost dropped 19percent after fourth-quarter results missed expectations.(Reporting by Helen Reidediting by Tom Pfeiffer)