* FTSEurofirst 300 index down 0.1 percent
* Mining and energy stocks rise
* Travel, leisure and retail stocks fall as dollar eases
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Monday in
a volatile session, as easing crude oil pared some of the gains
in energy shares, while the firmer euro dented retailer and auto
stocks.
Banks were the worst performing sector on the broader
European market, but automotive and food and drug retailers
ranked among some of the biggest drags.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares
<> eased 0.1 percent, or 1.1 points, to 1,189.15 points,
after earlier rising as much as 0.8 percent.
Crude oil <CLc1> fell below $113 a barrel, which eroded some
of the gains in oil and gas shares, but added to growing relief
that inflationary pressures were receding. Crude touched record
highs around $147 in July.
"The oil price is very important and is indeed part of the
reason why we've seen investor sentiment look a bit stronger
over the course of the last few weeks," said Henk Potts, a
strategist at Barclays Stockbrokers.
"Short term it is still a pretty negative picture of slowing
economic growth, which continues to be a factor," he said.
The oil and gas sector accounted for 1.1 positive points in
the FTSEurofirst, compared with a positive contribution of 2.6
points earlier in the session when crude oil was heading up.
CRUDE SUPPORT
The FTSEurofirst 300 is on track for its first monthly rise
in four months in August, helped in large part by the near-10
percent drop in crude oil that has doused concern about
inflation and revived hopes of central banks cutting rates.
"Whilst people look at oil, the much bigger picture is
growth differentials, fundamentals," said Philip Lawlor, chief
portfolio strategist at Nomura.
"You're seeing the expectation that Europe is quite
conceivably going to have lower growth than the U.S., so we're
coming off a period of people readjusting, recalibrating their
outlook," he said.
Oil earlier rose by as much as 1.4 percent to $115.35 a
barrel and was last down 0.9 percent at $112.88.
Index heavyweight stocks Total <TOTF.PA> and Royal Dutch
Shell <RDSa.AS> were up 1.1 to 1.8 percent, while StatoilHydro
<STL.OL> rose 3.2 percent.
The European travel and leisure index <.SXTP> and the DJ
Stoxx European retail index <.SXRP> fell 1.5 percent and 1.2
percent, respectively.
Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA> fell 2 percent, Lufthansa <LHAG.DE>
fell 1.6 percent, and British Airways <BAY.L> lost 3.2 percent.
Adding to the pressure on the broader market was the euro's
recovery from last week's six-month lows against the dollar
<EUR=>, and this undermined export-sensitive stocks such as auto
manufacturers.
Daimler <DAIGn.DE> fell 1.1 percent, Volkswagen <VOWG.DE>
shed 0.7 percent and French rivals Peugeot <PEUP.PA> and Renault
<RENA.PA> lost 1 to 1.1 percent.
Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> and Barclays <BARC.L> which
lost 1.8 to 2 percent, and BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> and Societe
Generale <SOGN.PA>, which fell 1 to 1.1 percent.
In the retail sector, Dutch group Ahold <AHLN.AS> lost 2.6
percent, while Sainsbury <SBRY.L> fell 1.7 percent and Celesio
<CLSGn.DE> fell 1.4 percent.
But the weaker dollar acted as a boon to base and precious
metals prices and gave the mining sector a lift.
Anglo American <AAL.L> rose 2.1 percent, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>
rose 1.7 percent, and Vedanta <VED.L> rose 0.9 percent.
Around Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index <> lost 0.1
percent, Germany's DAX index <> fell 0.2 percent, and
France's CAC 40 <> shed 0.1 percent.
(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau in London and Eva Kuehnen
in Frankfurt; editing by Sue Thomas)
