European shares fall after slump in China

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 falls 1.1 percent 
                                
 * Banks take most points off the index 
                                
 * Telekom Austria, ENRC rise after results
                                
 
                                
 By Brian Gorman
                                
 LONDON, Aug 19 (Reuters) - European shares fell in early
trade on Wednesday, after a sharp drop on China's stock market,
and as doubts on global economic recovery persisted.
 At 0824 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was down 1.1 percent at 924.11 points.
                                
 The benchmark index rose 1.4 percent on Tuesday and is up
more than 43 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, on hopes
of a strong, fast economic recovery.
                                
 Banks took most points off the index. BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>,
Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Societe Generale
<SOGN.PA> and UniCredit <CRDI.MI> fell between 1.8 and 2.2
percent.
                                
 HSBC <HSBA.L> fell 3.1 percent, on going ex-dividend.
                                
 China's stock market tumbled more than 4 percent on
Wednesday, led by recently listed shares, as investors were
disappointed that authorities did not take steps to support the
market after the key index had fallen as much as 19 percent over
the past two weeks. [ID:nBJD001076]
                                
 "The decline is linked to the fall on the Chinese stock
exchange," said Heino Ruland, strategist at Ruland Research, in
Frankfurt.
                                
 "It goes back to disappointing consumer sentiment figures in
the U.S. last week. There is no sign that we can expect a
V-shaped global recovery and the realisation of this will take
the heat out of the market. Earnings forecasts are still too
high."
                                
 Energy companies were mostly lower, though crude prices
<CLc1> remained relatively high, down 34 cents at $68.85 a
barrel, after a surprise drop in U.S. inventories on Tuesday.
                                
 Total <TOTF.PA>, ENI <ENI.MI>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>,
Repsol <REP.MC> and StatoilHydro <STL.OL> were between 0.8 and
1.3 percent lower.  
                                
 Most miners were lower, tracking weaker prices for copper
and other metals on global economic outlook. Anglo American
<AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Lonmin
<LMI.L> and Vedanta Resources <VED.L> were down between 1.4 and
2.7 percent.
                                
 
                                
 ENRC RISES
                                
 Some companies bucked the trend after their earnings
releases.
                                
 Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L> rose 5.9 percent after
the Kazakh-focused miner's first-half earnings fell less than
expectations. [ID:nLJ326864]
                                
 Telekom Austria <TELA.VI> rose 3.6 percent after defying
market expectations and keeping its earnings outlook for the
year as it reported second-quarter results that showed revenue
weakness as its fixed-line sales shrank. [ID:nLJ506837]
                                
 Stora Enso <STERV.HE>, Europe's biggest paper maker, rose
1.7 percent after saying it would close mills in Finland due to
continuing weak demand and book a 592 million euro ($837
million) hit in its third-quarter results.
                                
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, Germany's DAX
<.GDAXI> and France's CAC-40 <.FCHI> were down between 1 and 1.4
percent.
 (Editing by Hans Peters)