* FTSEurofirst 300 index falls 0.4 percent
* Banks with exposure to peripheries slip
* Acquisition news buoys luxury goods sector
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, March 7 (Reuters) - European shares ended lower on Monday after investor concerns about the impact of oil prices on the recovery prompted a late afternoon sell-off, with banks among the biggest sector fallers.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed down 0.4 percent at 1,143.86 points after being up as much as 1,157.38 earlier in the session after M&A news lifted sentiment.
Volume was at 97.9 percent of the index's 90-day average.
"Uncertainty is rising and investors have been taking profits since Wall Street turned lower," said Heino Ruland, strategist at Ruland Research in Frankfurt.
"There are still problems in Libya and there are concerns the oil price might curb economic recovery. I think investors will continue to reduce exposure to their risk profile."
Concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East had sent Brent crude up around $118.50 a barrel, fuelling worries stronger crude prices could spur inflation and hit the economic recovery.
The STOXX Europe 600 Banks was among the worst performing sectors, down 0.8 percent, with certain stocks exposed to the euro zone periphery hard hit after ratings agency Moody's downgraded Greece by three notches.
Dexia, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale all ended down 1.4 percent to 2 percent.
The mining sector was also under pressure after investors decided to take risk off the table on worries the global recovery may stall.
Vedanta Resources, Rio Tinto and Kazakhmys slipped 1.7 to 3.6 percent.
Looking at individual stocks on the downside, satellite telecommunications operator Inmarsat dropped 13.4 percent after a key maritime revenue forecast missed expectations.
M&A BOOST
On the upside, merger and acquisition news boosted luxury good stocks after France's LVMH said it would buy Italy's Bulgari in a 3.7 billion euros ($5.19 billion) deal.
Sector peers Richemont and Burberry Group gained 2.2 percent and 3.6 percent respectively.
Elsewhere Investor AB gained 2.8 percent on merger and acquisition news. Japan's Terumo Corp said it would buy CaridianBCT from Gambro, which is jointly controlled by Investor AB and private equity funds manager EQT IV.
British testing firm Intertek rose 5 percent after it announced it was buying quality and safety services firm Moody International and reported forecast-beating full-year profits.
Tognum was up 23.1 percent on news that Daimler and Rolls-Royce were considering a joint bid for the enginemaker.
"I think over a longer period of time, the more relevant the de-equitisation theme, when you include sovereign wealth funds, buy-back of stock, company-to-company purchases," a London-based trader at a U.S. investment bank said.
In the short term, however, the market was seeing less equity trade and less long-only flow, "so we end up being driven up and down by punters such as hedge funds," he added.
Europe's stock valuation levels remained relatively low, with the STOXX Europe 600 carrying a forward P/E ratio of 10.95, well below a 10-year average of 13.61, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.3 percent, Germany's DAX was down 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 was down 0.7 percent. (Additional reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)