* Saab shares jump on Colombian fighter jet contract * WPP rises on takeover interest from Havas and private equity * Airbus gains on potential flydubai order at Dubai Airshow (Updates prices throughout, adds analyst quote) By Johann M Cherian and Anastasiia Kozlova Nov 17 (Reuters) - European shares slipped slightly on Monday, as investors avoided big bets ahead of a long-awaited jobs report from the U.S. that could offer clarity on the health of the world's largest economy. The pan-European STOXX 600 <.STOXX> wobbled between marginal gains and losses and was last down 0.17% at 573.95 points by 0923 GMT. Worries that an imminent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve is unlikely and that technology shares are overvalued had sparked a global selloff last week; equities in Europe logged their biggest daily loss in over a month on Friday. Risk appetite this week is likely to be tested by the September U.S. jobs report, due on Thursday, and an earnings report from global AI bellwether Nvidia , due on Wednesday. Construction spending data from the Census Bureau is also expected on Monday. "There's a big chance for a lot of volatility in this data but at this stage I don't know quite what it's going to be able to tell us, but I do understand that it does make sense for the members of the Fed to prepare for big rates being on hold in December," said David Morrison, a senior market analyst at Trade Nation. Morrison also said the quality of the data was uncertain since data collection was halted while the U.S. government was shut for over a month. Financial stocks including banks <.SX7E> and insurers <.SXIP> weighed on the STOXX index on Monday, while luxury stocks such as UK's Burberry and France's LVMH fell, losing 4.6% and 1.5% respectively. Among individual stocks, Saab secured a 3.1 billion euro contract with the Colombian government to supply 17 Gripen fighter jets over the next five years, boosting the Swedish defence company's shares by 6.6%. The broader defence sector <.SXPARO> gained 1.2%. British advertising giant WPP's shares rose 2.2% after a report said it had attracted takeover interest from French rival Havas and some private equity firms. Airbus climbed 1.5% after a Reuters report said the aircraft maker is poised to secure the bulk of a major flydubai order at the Dubai Airshow, challenging Boeing’s long-standing dominance with the Gulf carrier. (Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru and Anastasiia Kozlova in Gdansk; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sahal Muhammed) ((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com)) Keywords: EUROPE STOCKS/ (UPDATE 1)
