* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 3.4 percent
* Financials, commodities lead index to 5-1/2 year low
* Ahold, RBS lead risers
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - European stocks fell to the their
lowest level since March 2003 early on Thursday, adding to the
previous session's selloff, as banks and commodities continued
their slide on worries of a deep global slowdown.
At 1006 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was down 3.4 percent at 784.21 points, having
fallen as low as 782.67.
The benchmark index has fallen more than 48 percent this
year.
"There's no volume. No one wants to buy. People will take
opportunities to sell," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director
at Seven Investment Management.
"No one wants to float a boat -- they will wait for the tide
to turn. What will make it turn? We have to get the bad news
completely out the way. That may come when there are more
realistic valuations of properties in the United States."
European banks remained under pressure after Citigroup Inc
<C.N> faced a crisis of confidence on Wednesday as investors
questioned the survival prospects of the U.S. banking giant, and
its shares tumbled 23 percent to a 13-year low.
"Having seen Lehmans and Merrill Lynch fall by the wayside
this year, the sight of another major such as Citigroup
struggling will prove a bitter pill to swallow," said Chris
Hossain, senior sales manager at ODL Securities.
Dexia <DEXI.BR>, Fortis <FOR.BR>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Credit
Suisse <CSGN.VX>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC> and UBS <UBSN.VX>
fell between 5.9 and 9 percent.
But BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> was outperforming, down 0.3
percent, after announcing late on Wednesday that it is not
considering any capital increase other than that already
scheduled to finance the acquisition of Fortis Bank, which will
be subscribed by the Belgian and Luxembourg states
Insurers continued to fall, with their equities portfolios
hurt by the slide in the stockmarket.
Axa <AXAF.PA>, Aviva <AV.L>, Prudential <PRU.L>, Swiss Life
<SLHN.VX> and Zurich Financial <ZURN.VX> fell between 5.1 and
8.9 percent.
All 38 industry groups in the FTSEurofirst 300 index were
lower.
But Royal Bank of Scotland was the second-biggest gainer on
the FTSEurofirst 300 with a 5.7-percent rise ahead of a
shareholder meeting to approve a fundraising plan.
"It's the RBS vote today and there's a bit of conjecture
in-line with the Lloyds yes vote that shareholders will seek to
approve capital raising backed by HM Treasury," said a trader.
"It's positive sentiment ahead of the vote and the market
expects a good outcome."
AHOLD RISES
Dutch supermarket group Ahold <AHLN.AS> was one of the few
gainers, up 6.1 percent, after it reported an 11 percent rise in
core quarterly profit, beating estimates, and reiterated its
full-year operating margin target.
Energy networks operator National Grid <NG.L> rose 0.8
percent after posting a 4 percent increase in half-year profits.
The company forecast full year results in line with its
expectations and said the outlook for 2008/9 was positive.
Air France-KLM < AIRF.PA> fell 8 percent after posting a 44
percent drop in operating profit in the second quarter and
cutting its full-year profit forecast.
Oil prices <CLc1>, which saw their lowest close in 22 months
on Wednesday, fell further, down nearly 2 percent to less than
$53 a barrel.
Total <TOTF.PA>, ENI <ENI.MI>, BP <BP.L> and Royal Dutch
Shell <RDSa.L> fell between 1.5 and 2.6 percent.
Likewise, base metal prices fell, though gold was higher.
Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Eurasian Natural
Resources Corp. <ENRC.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>,
Vedanta Resources <VED.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L> fell between 2.2 and
8.7 percent.
French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen <PEUP.PA> was down 2.5
percent after unveiling plans to cut 2,700 jobs and saying that
due to the financial crisis and the sector's turmoil, car sale
volumes in main European markets would drop by at least 10
percent in 2009 and 17 percent in the fourth quarter.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index was down 1.4
percent, Germany's DAX <> was 2.1 percent lower and
France's CAC 40 <> was down 2.6 percent.
UK retail sales data provided further evidence of economic
slowdown. Sales fell 0.1 percent in October, said the Office for
National Statistics. But this was less of a fall than analysts
had forecast.
The ONS added that the September figure was revised to show
a fall of 0.5 percent, compared with the previously stated 0.4
percent.
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash and Nicholas Vinocur;
Editing by Hans Peters)
