* FTSEurofirst 300 ends 0.6 pct lower, third drop in a row
* Bailout worries eclipse Buffett's investment in Goldman
* EDF rises after agreeing $23 bln deal for British Energy
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - European stocks ended lower on
Wednesday, as rising concern over when the U.S. Congress will
give its go-ahead to the $700 billion bailout plan eclipsed news
of Warren Buffett's investment in Goldman Sachs <GS.N>.
European mining and energy shares were among the biggest
losers, with Anglo American <AAL.L> losing 6 percent, Xstrata
<XTA.L> falling 5.3 percent and Total <TOTF.PA> dropping 1.1
percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
closed 0.6 percent lower at 1,101.60 points, falling for the
third consecutive session. The index is down 27 percent in 2008.
"The bailout legislation is absolutely crucial," said Alan
Harris, investment manager at Charles Stanley.
"Desperate measures are required in desperate times. It's
not going to do anybody any good if the Democrats manage to
derail it. We would be staring into the abyss."
Concerns that congressional wrangling could delay or weaken
the Bush administration's rescue plan to purge bad
mortgage-related debt from banks' balance sheets continued to
rattle investors on Wednesday.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said
"extraordinary stress" in financial markets was threatening an
already weak U.S. economy, but his plea that lawmakers support
the rescue plan was met with scepticism in Washington.
Bernanke was appearing before Congress for a second straight
day, trying to build a case for the bank bailout plan proposed
by the U.S. Treasury. On Tuesday, he had said the economy could
contract without lawmaker action.
U.S. lawmakers, however, have made clear they would not
approve the proposal without changes, including more protections
for taxpayers and restrictions on the pay of executives at
companies that offload their bad assets.
News that U.S. billionaire investor Buffett's Berkshire
Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N> <BRKb.N> would invest $5 billion in
Goldman was seen as a major boost for the Wall Street bank, and
for the banking sector in general.
Most of European banking stocks rose, with Credit Agricole
<CAGR.PA> gaining 5.1 percent, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> rising
3.1 percent and UBS <UBSN.VX> adding 4.9 percent.
"It's extremely good news that Buffett has made that move.
He has a huge reputation. He's probably the world's top investor
and he carries a lot of weight," Harris said.
"It's all about confidence, which has been completely
shattered. It's going to take a long while to rebuild it. We're
not out of the woods by any means, but I do think that possibly,
the end is in sight," he said.
"Bear markets usually end with some sort of cataclysm event,
and the financial collapse of the past two weeks may well be
that event."
Around Europe, Germany's DAX index <> ended 0.3
percent lower, UK's FTSE 100 index <> fell 0.8 percent and
France's CAC 40 <> shed 0.6 percent.
French utility EDF <EDF.PA> rose 3.2 percent after agreeing
to a 12.5 billion pound ($23.14 billion) offer for British
Energy <BGY.L>, which gained 5.7 percent.
Fiat <FIA.MI> tumbled 4.4 percent on market talk of a profit
warning from the Italian auto maker. Other auto makers also
fell, with Peugeot <PEUP.PA> down 2.7 percent, Volkswagen
<VOWG.DE> down 5.8 percent, and Renault <RENA.PA> down 2.9
percent.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)
