* FTSEurofirst 300 loses 0.2 pct, down for 2nd day in a row
* Miners, energy shares hit by commodity sell-off
* Banks fall on fresh worries over results
* Defensive utilities, telecoms stocks rise
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, Dec 18 (Reuters) - European stocks ended lower on
Thursday, down for the fifth time in six sessions, as a sell-off
in commodity prices hit metal and energy shares while banks
tumbled on fresh fears over the health of the embattled sector.
But a rally in defensive shares, such as utilities and
telecoms, helped limit the losses.
Carrefour <CARR.PA>, the world's second biggest retailer,
sank 7.4 percent after warning late on Wednesday it expects only
slight growth in 2008 earnings before interest and tax, compared
with previous guidance of a growth of around 7 percent.
The banking sector was hammered, with Royal Bank of Scotland
<RBS.L> down 7.9 percent and Credit Agricole <CAGR.PA> down 3
percent.
BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> lost 3.6 percent, adding to the
previous session's slump. The bank said it was suspending a key
part of the deal to buy some businesses of Fortis <FOR.BR> due
to a legal challenge. The deal would have had the effect of
boosting BNP's balance sheet.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
closed 0.2 percent lower at 827.12 points. The benchmark index
is down 45 percent in 2008 -- dragged by the crisis in the
credit market that has triggered a global economic slump -- but
it is up 10 percent since reaching a floor on Nov 21.
"I hope that we have seen the lows, and we can see that the
money markets are beginning to stabilise, but what we still
don't know is the condition of the investor base, whether we
have seen the end of forced sales and liquidations," said Kevin
Gardiner, head of Global Equity Strategy at HSBC Investment
Bank.
"There is more financial debris to come out of the financial
sector when fourth quarter results come through, and the
near-term economic data is going to remain pretty poor for quite
a while, so we can't rule out new lows for stocks, but we're
optimistic that we won't probably see them," he said.
Miners and oil producers figured among the biggest losers,
as crude oil futures plummeted 4.5 percent to around $38 a
barrel while metal prices plunged on fresh worries over demand.
BP <BP.L> shed 2.1 percent and Rio Tinto <RIO.L> sank 1.9
percent.
The miners' DJ Stoxx basic resources sector <.SXPP>, which
had outperformed the broad market in the first part of 2008, is
now down 63 percent year-to-date, as investors quickly dumped
cyclical mining shares on rising signs of a global downturn.
The DJ Stoxx banking index <.SX7P> is down 65 percent
year-to-date, hit by the meltdown of the U.S. subprime mortgage
market that has forced governments around the world to bail out
a number of troubled financial institutions.
The flurry of gloomy economic data continued on Thursday,
with the Ifo survey showing German corporate sentiment
deteriorated sharply in December, with manufacturers of export
goods suffering acutely.
The Ifo research institute said it had to go back to 1982 to
find such a weak index level in the former West Germany.
"The German economy is in the middle of a severe recession
but it is still unclear how large this recession will be," said
ING Financial Markets' Carsten Brzeski.
Euro zone seasonally adjusted imports and exports both fell
in October, pointing to sharply weakening global demand.
Stocks seen as defensive plays were on the upside on
Thursday, with Vodafone <VOD.L> up 2 percent and GDF Suez
<GSZ.PA> up 4.5 percent.
Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index <> rose 0.2 percent,
Germany's DAX index <> gained 1 percent, and France's CAC
40 <> fell 0.2 percent.
(Editing by David Cowell)
