LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - European stocks were seen falling on Wednesday, tracking losses in the United States and in Asia to lead major indexes further away from multi-year highs.     Financial spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100  
  .FTSE
   to open 10 to 12 points lower, or down 0.2 percent, Germany's DAX  
  .GDAXI
   to open 27 to 32 points lower, or dow 0.3 percent, and France's CAC 40  
  .FCHI
   to open down 14 to 16 points, or as much as 0.4 percent lower.     Wall Street set the tone on Tuesday for a weak session in Asia on Wednesday after disappointing results for heavy machinery firm Caterpillar  
  CAT.N
   and in the retail sector prompted a broad sell-off in U.S. stocks.  
  ID:nL1N0O61W8
       "Europe should open on the back foot this morning, with futures markets finding little inspiration from the modest moves in Asia," Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, said in a note.     The retail sector will also be in focus in Europe, with luxury firm Burberry  
  BRBY.L
   reporting results.     Across the DJ STOXX Europe 600  
  .STOXX
  , earnings season so far has been mediocre, with 51 percent of companies missing earnings estimates and nearly 60 percent missing analyst expectations for revenue.     The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300  
  .FTEU3
   is down 0.3 percent so far this week, suffering from poor results from the likes of telecoms giant Vodafone  
  VOD.L
  . It has fallen 1.2 percent since hitting its highest level since May 2008 last Thursday.          Europe bourses in 2014: (
  http://link.reuters.com/pad95v
 )     Asset performance in 2014: (
  http://link.reuters.com/rav46v
 ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------   MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0514 GMT:                                                LAST  PCT CHG  NET CHG  S&P 500             
  .SPX
              1,872.83  -0.65 %   -12.25  NIKKEI              
  .N225
             14040.78  -0.24 %   -34.47  MSCI ASIA EX-JP     
  .MIAPJ0000PUS
        482.5   -0.2 %    -0.98  EUR/USD             
  EUR=
                1.3706   0.03 %   0.0004  USD/JPY             
  JPY=
                101.23  -0.08 %  -0.0800  10-YR US TSY YLD    
  US10YT=RR
            2.514       --     0.01  10-YR BUND YLD      
  EU10YT=RR
            1.350       --    -0.01  SPOT GOLD           
  XAU=
             $1,295.14    0.1 %    $1.34  US CRUDE            
  CLc1
               $102.93   0.59 %     0.60     > GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia spooked by Wall Street loss, dollar dips     
  MKTS/GLOB
     > US STOCKS-Retail stocks lead selloff on Wall St after earnings     
  .N
     > Nikkei falls as BOJ awaited; construction equipment makers hit     
  .T
     > TREASURIES-U.S. bond prices rise on Dudley comments         
  US/N
     > FOREX-Wounded dollar eyes BOJ, Aussie slides to 2-week low     
  FRX/
     > PRECIOUS-Gold steady; platinum gains on supply worries         
  GOL/
     > METALS-Copper drifts as traders take profits on tepid demand      
  MET/L
     > Brent climbs towards $110 on Libya violence, U.S. stock draw     
  O/R
          (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)  ((alistair.smout@thomsonreuters.com)(+44 207 542 7064)(Reuters Messaging: alistair.smout.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))  Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE FACTORS