UPDATE 2-Possible tariff delay lifts European shares off session lows

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* U.S., China trade arbiters plan for delay of Dec tariffs -
WSJ
* Trade-sensitive German shares recover from over 1-month
lows
* Sanofi gains on plans to narrow focus on key drugs
* Britain's Ashtead falls on news of UK business refocus

(Adds details about WSJ report on tariff delay, closing prices)
By Susan Mathew and Medha Singh
Dec 10 (Reuters) - European shares fell for a second day
running on Tuesday, but a 6% jump in drugmaker Sanofi and a
report that U.S. and Chinese officials are planning to delay
tariffs set to kick in on Dec. 15 helped them end off session
lows.
In a week also packed with other global political and
economic events such as an election in Britain and U.S. and
European central bank meetings, the pan-regional STOXX 600 index
.STOXX closed down 0.3%, recovering from a fall of up to 1.2%
earlier in the day.
The Wall Street Journal reported officials from both the
United States and China as saying the groundwork was being laid
to push back a Dec. 15 deadline for new tariffs. "The fact that the deadline might be postponed can be seen
as a positive, but equally it does not resolve the situation,"
said Simona Gambarini, markets economist at Capital Economics.
"It's fair to say that everyone expects some sort of a phase
one (interim) deal ... With so much positive news already priced
in, there is much bigger risk of downside if those expectations
are disappointed."
Signs of progress in Sino-U.S. trade relations were a major
catalyst in powering the benchmark index to four-year peaks last
month. However, growing fears about delays to a deal have hurt
market sentiment, with the STOXX 600 now about 2% below those
levels.
Frankfurt's trade-sensitive DAX .GDAXI fell 0.3%, while
export-reliant mining .SXPP and autos sectors .SXAP shed
around half a percent each.
A 7.4% slide in French car parts maker Valeo VLOF.PA after
its mid-term targets disappointed investors led losses in the
auto sector.
Consumer stocks, including some food and beverage .SX3P
makers, and financials .SX7P were among other big decliners.
Defensive plays such as real estate .SX86P , utilities
.SX6P and healthcare stocks .SXDP gained. Sanofi SASY.PA
posted its best day in three years after the firm revamped its
margin goals and announced a narrower drug focus. Sanofi's SASY.PA rally helped overcome losses on the
French index .FCHI , while a rally in utility shares helped
Italian stocks .FTMIB outperform, up 0.7%.
London's FTSE 100 .FTSE fell 0.3%. Opinion polls have put
the ruling Conservatives on course for a parliamentary majority
in an election on Thursday, enabling Brexit to go ahead by the
end of January.
Ashtead Plc's AHT.L 6.2% slide was the biggest on the
index after the equipment rental giant said it was suffering
from competitive pressure and market uncertainty in Britain.