LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Wednesday as a stronger dollar helped to weaken metals prices and halt a rally for miners, but losses were cut as a report showed a dramatic increase in U.S. job creation. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares fell 0.1 percent to a provisional close of 1,141.04 points, with the U.S. jobs data helping it climb off the day's low of 1,128.49.
Metals prices retreated after a strong run, sending some heavyweight mining shares lower. Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto fell between 0.9 and 1.9 percent.
But U.S. private employers added 297,000 jobs in December, the biggest increase since at least 2001, a report showed. The median estimate from 27 economists surveyed by Reuters for the ADP Employer Services report was for a rise of 100,000 private-sector jobs.
Further adding to the feeling of a strong recovery in the world's biggest economy, the U.S. non-manufacturing sector grew in December at its fastest pace in more than four years, according to an industry report.
"The ADP and ISM data would suggest things are going very well, though if it's going so well then central banks will have to put up interest rates," said Andy Lynch, fund manager at Schroders. (Reporting by Brian Gorman)