Banks lead European shares lower; US jobs data eyed

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.4 percent
                                
 * For up-to-the minute stocks news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 
                                
 By Brian Gorman
                                
 LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - European shares fell in early
trade on Friday, with banks among the biggest losers, and with
investors awaiting a key U.S. labour market report.
                                
 At 0926 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was down 0.4 percent at 1,010.30 points.
                                
 The heavyweight banking sector took the most points off the
index. Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, HSBC
<HSBA.L>, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>, Standard Chartered
<STAN.L> and UniCredit <CRDI.MI>fell between 0.6 and 3.1
percent.
                                
 The European benchmark is still on course to end the week
1.1 percent higher, and is up more than 56 percent from its
lifetime low of March 9, as investors have become more confident
on the prospects for economic recovery.
                                
 However, U.S. markets closed lower on Thursday after data
showed the services sector shrank in November.
                                
 "The U.S. figures yesterday knocked confidence," said Justin
Urquhart-Stewart, investment director at Seven Investment
Management, in London.
                                
 "And there's a general feeling the unemployment figures will
be weak. No one wants to take any positions in this market.
Nervousness has gone up since Dubai," he added.
                                
 A key report on the labour market in the United States is
due at 1330 GMT. Although the world's biggest economy has come
out of recession, it continues to shed jobs, albeit at a slower
rate than previously. 
 About 130,000 jobs were lost in November, according to a
Reuters poll, compared with 190,000 in October.
                                
 Insurers also fell, with Aegon <AEGN.AS>, Aviva <AV.L>, AXA
<AXAF.PA>, Legal & General <LGEN.L> and Prudential <PRU.L>
falling between 1.5 and 2.9 percent.
                                
 Energy companies were mostly lower, as crude prices fell 0.4
percent to just over $76 a barrel.
                                
 Total <TOTF.PA>, ENI <ENI.MI>, BG <BG.L> and Repsol <REP.MC>
fell between 0.4 and 0.7 percent.
                                
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, France's CAC40
<.FCHI> and Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> were down between 0.4 and 0.5
percent. 
                                
 
                                
 RANDSTAD RISES 
                                
 Randstad <RAND.AS> rose 4 percent after the recruitment
company said US staffing had returned to growth for the first
time in three years. [ID:nWEA4362]      
                                
 British Airways <BAY.L> rose 2 percent, extending gains made
following Thursday's well-received November traffic figures,
boosted by an upgrade from Citigroup. 
                                
 In a note reviewing the airline's planned merger with
Spain's Iberia <IBLA.MC>, the broker upped its rating for both
BA and Iberia to "buy" from "hold". Iberia rose 1.7 percent.
 ((brian.gorman@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 9128; Reuters
Messaging: brian.gorman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
 (Editing by Judy MacInnes)