LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Shares of surprise tariff

avoiders like pharmaceuticals and drinks firms and

rate-sensitive stocks such as real estate were among the few to

post gains in Europe on Thursday, as fears of a global recession

sent wider markets tumbling.

The broad STOXX 600 dropped to its lowest in two months and

was last down 1.2%, but U.S. index futures fell more,

around 3%, as President Donald Trump's drastic trade tariffs

sent investors out of stocks into the safety of bonds and gold.

The euro itself roared higher, heading for its

biggest one-day rise in almost a decade, up over 2.5% at one

point at $1.1147, as investors dumped dollars.

Among the gloom in the stocks world, surprise bright spots

appeared, particularly in those sectors where investors had been

bracing for high tariffs, but did not see their worst fears

materialise.

European spirit makers were expected to see large tariffs

after a social media post from Trump last month suggesting as

much. After they avoided any particularly special harsh

treatment, however, shares rose on Wednesday.

Diageo ( DEO ) and Davide Campari were up over 2%,

rebounding after recent tumbles.

"The scale of tariffs for spirits stocks is less than

feared," Citi analysts said, adding that markets had anticipated

around 25% tariffs on the sector.

Pharmaceuticals also posted gains. British drugmakers GSK

and AstraZeneca ( AZN ) each rose over 1% after Trump

spared pharmaceutical products from wide-ranging reciprocal

tariffs.

GlaxoSmithKline has an estimated 52% revenue exposure to the

U.S. and AstraZeneca ( AZN ) 40%.

To be sure, analysts say neither pharma nor spirit makers

are out of the woods yet, with potential for future additional

tariff announcements as well as the impact of the overall hit to

growth from tariffs, but the reprieve would help shares in the

short term.

Other rare gainers in Europe were traditional defensive

sectors, such as real estate up 2.2%, set for their

biggest daily percentage gain since mid January.

Real estate stocks are sensitive to interest rates, and the

rush to the safety of government bonds pushed Germany's 10-year

bond yield down 7 basis points to its lowest in a month.

The second best sectoral performer in Europe was utilities,

up 1.75% at their highest since 2008, benefiting from a flight

to safety effect since they rely little on either imports or

exports.