UPDATE 1-Adidas boost and strong miners keep European shares afloat

* STOXX 600 up 0.2 pct

* Basic resources stocks climb 1.3 pct on Chinese data

* Adidas jumps 8.6 pct on share buyback, strong guidance

* Zara owner Inditex bottom of IBEX as earnings disappoint(Updates prices, adds detail, quotes)

By Helen Reid

LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - In the face of a freshprotectionist move from the United States causing Asian sharesto fall overnight, European stocks managed a modest gain onWednesday thanks to strong results from Adidas and robust miningstocks.

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 8.6 percent after announcing a sharebuyback of up to 3 billion euros and lifting its 2020profitability target.

Berenberg analysts said strong sales growth surprised themarket after "a lot of chatter" about the stock recently.

"Despite the wide-ranging concerns, adidas has delivered agood set of results," said Berenberg's Zuzanna Pusz, adding thatthe share buyback programme showed adidas' focus on shareholderreturns.

Technology stocks were the biggest drag on the index afterU.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on upto $60 billion of Chinese imports, targeting tech andtelecommunications in particular.

"We have got some protection in portfolios, which is a nodto the fact we think sentiment is totally overrun and valuationsare very high," said Rory McPherson, head of investment strategyat Psigma Investment Management.

"Clearly the potential trade war would cause us to ramp upthat protection, but at the moment we think it's a tail event."

Basic resource stocks climbed 1.1 percent after datashowed Chinese industrial production expanded at a much fasterpace than expected.

On the flipside of the retail sector to adidas, Zara ownerInditex was the top Spanish faller, down 2.6 percentafter its results. UBS analysts said the dividend was lower thanexpected.

German chemicals firm Symrise tumbled 6 percentafter 2017 results disappointed the market with slow margingrowth.

Peer Brenntag also dropped after results.

UK insurer Prudential was a notable gainer, up 5percent as investors cheered its plan to spin off its Britishand European business.

Top faller was Belgian postal service Bpost whichdropped 18.7 percent after delivering a weak profit guidance for2018.

German online advertising firm Axel Springertumbled 4.5 percent after Berenberg analysts cut their rating onthe stock to "sell", saying the company was not delivering asmuch as digital peers.

Psigma's McPherson has a neutral position on Europeanequities and slightly underweight on the UK, while his biggestunderweight is U.S. stocks. "None of them are screaminglycheap," he said, adding U.S. stock valuations are much higher.

Analysts expect earnings to grow around 20 percent this yearin the United States, while expectations for European earningsgrowth are around half that, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data shows.

"To deliver on those earnings is much more achievable," saidMcPherson.

(Reporting by Helen ReidEditing by Tom Pfeiffer and Alison Williams)