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Banks, oils drag Europe shares from 11-month peak

Published 09/14/2009, 07:27 AM
Updated 09/14/2009, 07:33 AM
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* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 1.1 percent after 6-day winning run

* Banks, miners, oils among top decliners

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - European shares snapped a six-session winning run on Monday and retreated from an 11-month peak, led lower by financial and commodity stocks, with weaker macroeconomic data and a U.S.-China trade row hurting sentiment.

By 1053 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1.1 percent at 983.02 points after hitting its highest closing in 11 months on Friday.

It is up 18 percent this year and has jumped 52 percent since hitting a floor in March, but is still down 15 percent from its level in mid-September 2008 before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, once the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank.

Gaps in the regulation of U.S. banks and capital markets have been blamed for the subprime mortgage crisis triggered after Lehman filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008.

Banks were among top decliners on the index on Monday, with Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale , Credit Agricole, Natixis and KBC Groep down 0.5-5 percent.

Swedbank fell 2.5 percent. It set a 51 percent discount in a planned 15 billion crown ($2.1 billion) rights issue aimed at bolstering its balance sheet in the face of mounting loan losses in the Baltics.

"There is a general feeling that the market is quite overextended and we are extremely overbought. I think we are very close to the end of this very big move and the next couple of months will be very difficult," said Philippe Gijsels, senior equity strategist at Fortis Bank, in Brussels.

"The U.S.-China trade row is certainly having some impact. China is extremely important for the world economy and if anything hurts the country, then that's quite upsetting for the market," he added.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced safeguard duties on tyre imports from China on Friday and China responded by signalling anti-dumping investigations of motor vehicles and chicken products from the United States.

Data also failed to support the market. Euro zone industrial output fell in July and employment dropped again in the second quarter, pointing to continued weakness in the economy despite signs that euro zone recession may be ending.

STRICTER OVERSIGHT

The market awaited a speech by Obama later on Monday in which he will try to revive a stalled push for stricter oversight of Wall Street, using the anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse to argue for sweeping regulatory changes.

Obama's economic address in New York will also discuss plans to unwind the government's involvement in the financial sector and call upon Wall Street firms to take responsibility and avoid reckless behaviour.

"I know there is an issue about how much longer government stimulus programmes can continue but believe me these western governments will do whatever it takes to make sure these economies don't slip back," said Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Energy shares fell after crude fell towards $68 a barrel, weighed down by a stronger dollar. BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, Tullow Oil, Total and StatoilHydro shed 0.5-2.6 percent.

Miners tracked weaker metals prices, with copper dropping to its lowest level in almost two weeks on persistent demand worries. BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Eurasian Natural Resources fell 1.3-3 percent.

But Cadbury added 0.6 percent, extending last week's 36 percent rally after Kraft Foods' 10.2 billion pounds ($17 billion) approach for the UK confectionery group.

Cadbury Chairman Roger Carr said it was an "unappealing prospect" being absorbed into Kraft's low growth conglomerate business model.

Sprint Nextel soared 15 percent in Frankfurt, boosted by a newspaper report that Deutsche Telekom is mulling a bid for the company.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 fell 0.7-1 percent. (Additional reporting by Dominic Lau; Editing by Andy Bruce)

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