* FTSEurofirst 300 closes 1.5 percent lower
* Banks slide after SEC charges Goldman Sachs
* Airline shares down as volcano ash causes flight chaos
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - European shares fell sharply on
Friday, led lower by banking stocks, after investment bank
Goldman Sachs <GS.N> was charged with fraud by the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC charged Goldman in relation to the structuring and
marketing of a debt product tied to subprime mortgages.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
fell 1.5 percent to close at 1,095.30 points. Over the week, the
index fell 0.6 percent, ending six straight weeks of gains.
The European benchmark is up more than 69 percent from its
lifetime low of March 9, 2009.
"If someone like Goldman Sachs is being sued this is painful
for the entire industry," said Heino Ruland, strategist at
Ruland Research, in Frankfurt.
"But this is a one-time event. I don't think it will carry
into next week, as there is a lot of data and earnings for
investors to focus on."
Goldman Sachs shares fell 15 percent in New York.
European banks to fall included BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Banco
Santander <SAN.MC>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>,
Credit Agricole <CAGR.PA> and HSBC <HSBA.L>, down between 2 and
7.3 percent.
Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> bucked the trend in the
sector, rising 5.1 percent after BofA Merrill Lynch hiked its
target and said the shares could double on a two-year view.
Commodities stocks fell on lower metals and crude prices
slipped, as the dollar strengthened.
Miners Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP
Billiton <BLT.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L>, Rio Tinto
<RIO.L>, and Xstrata <XTA.L> fell between 3 and 4.4 percent.
Total <TOTF.PA>, BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.AS>
fell between 1.1 and 1.7 percent.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <> ended the day 1.4
percent lower; Germany's DAX <> and France's CAC40 <>
fell 1.8 and 1.9 percent, respectively.
Wall Street was lower around the time European bourses were
closing. The Dow Jones <>, S&P 500 <.SPX> and Nasdaq
Composite <> were down between 1 and 1.5 percent.
Both General Electric <GE.N> and Bank of America <BAC.N>
fell, despite strong results, as the Goldman issue hurt
sentiment.
U.S. economic news was mixed. Permits to build new U.S.
homes unexpectedly surged in March to their highest level in
more than 1-1/2 years, but a surprise dip in consumer confidence
tempered optimism. []
CARREFOUR RISES
Among individual stocks, retailer Carrefour <CARR.PA> gained
1.4 percent after it posted its first rise in underlying
quarterly sales for 18 months and unveiled a 1.6 billion euro
share buyback to reflect confidence in its recovery plan.
But British supermarket giant Tesco <TSCO.L>, which reports
on Tuesday, fell 1.8 percent.
SKF <SKFb.ST>, the world's biggest bearing maker, jumped 5.8
percent after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter
results. Its peer engineering group Sandvik <SAND.ST> gained 4.7
percent.
Airline stocks were hurt as a huge ash cloud from an
Icelandic volcano caused further air travel chaos across Europe
on a scale not seen since the Sept. 11 attacks, leaving hundreds
of thousands of passengers stranded. []
Lufthansa <LHAG.DE>, British Airways <BAY.L>, Air Berlin
<AB1.DE>, Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA>, Iberia <IBLA.MC> and Ryanair
<RYA.I> fell between 2.5 and 4.1 percent.
(Editing by Will Waterman)
