* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.2 percent
* Volume light on last day of the year
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By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - European shares were slightly lower on Friday, the last day of 2010, in light trade and with several markets closed for a holiday.
At 0949 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.2 percent at 1,126.09 points, after falling 1.3 percent in the previous session. The benchmark has gained 5.5 percent in December, poised for its biggest monthly gain since March.
The index is on track to gain 7.7 percent in 2010, and is up more than 74 percent from its lifetime low of March, 2009, with several major economies having emerged from recession, helped by stimulus from governments and central banks worldwide.
French heavyweight banks were among the losers on Friday. BNP Paribas and Societe Generale fell 0.8 and 0.3 percent, respectively. "Volume will be thin. The market has had a good run, and I can't see any reason for the market to push any higher," said Simon Clark, trader at ETX Capital.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.2 percent, while France's CAC40 fell 0.4 percent. Both markets will close early on Friday.
Germany was among those markets closed all day. Copper hit yet another record high as the dollar weakened, but mining stocks slipped back, with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto down 1 and 1.3 percent, respectively.
However, this comes at the end of a year in which the Stoxx Europe 600 Basic Resources Index has risen more than 26 percent.
Market talk resurfaced that BHP was looking at a $40 billion-plus bid for Anadarko Petroleum, though banking sources said they were unaware of any imminent offer.
British house prices rose in December for the first time since May, according to Nationwide, providing reassurance that the property market is not falling off a cliff as it did in 2008.
Housebuilders Redrow and Bellway were duly up 1.2 and 1.3 percent, respectively. (Editing by Will Waterman)