Banks, commodities lead European shares down

By Brian Gorman

LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - European shares fell in morning

trade on Wednesday, led by banks and commodities stocks, as

prospects of a deep global recession continued to rattle

investors.

At 1002 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top

European shares was down 1.4 percent at 833.26 points, having

fallen as low as 828.84. It rose nearly 1 percent on Tuesday.

The index has lost more than 44 percent this year, battered

by a credit crisis and impending or actual recession in several

developed economies.

BNP Paribas, Barclays, Commerzbank , Deutsche Bank and UBS fell

between 4.4 and 6.7 percent.

Lloyds TSB was up 0.4 percent ahead of a meeting of

its shareholders to approve its takeover of HBOS, which

rose 10 percent.

ING was down 9.8 percent after Goldman Sachs cut

its target price on the company to 9 euros, from 14 euros, while

keeping its 'neutral' rating.

But Irish banks were higher after a press report that the

Irish government was on the brink of launching a multi-billion

euro rescue plan for the country's banks, including an injection

of taxpayers' money.

Anglo Irish Bank was up 21.4 percent, Bank of

Ireland was up 9.5 percent and Allied Irish Banks rose 8.3 percent.

Fortis fell 8 percent, losing momentum after

initially gaining on a Belgian court ruling on Tuesday that

rejected a challenge by shareholders to the state-backed rescue

of the financial giant.

Legal & General fell 9 percent after Deutsche Bank

lowered its price target for the insurer to 75 pence, from 103,

while maintaining its 'hold' stance.

Strategists are still sceptical about the prospects for a

sustained recovery in the market as concern about the economy

continues to dominate.

'There's still not a whole lot positive happening,' said

Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in

Dublin.

'The banks are still looking weak, and markets are just

holding up above the October lows. It's still precarious. The

tone of the market is still dictated by the economy, and

recession.'

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC-40 fell 0.5 to 0.8 percent.

British Land fell 1.5 percent after saying its

multi-billion pound portfolio shed 10.8 percent of its value in

its fiscal first half as relentless credit market woes and the

threat of recession added to miseries in the UK property sector.

MINERS, OILS FALL

Copper prices fell 1.7 percent. Among miners, Anglo

American, Rio Tinto, Vedanta Resources and

Xstrata fell 4.2 to 8.9 percent.

Oils fell as the crude price slipped more than 1

percent to below $54, near a 22-month low.

Total, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and

Statoil fell between 1 and 2.9 percent.

Vodafone and HSBC fell 4.2 and 4.1 percent

respectively as they went ex-dividend.

Sentiment towards banks remained negative, with U.S. giant

Citigroup trading near its lowest for several years after

announcing massive job cuts.

Credit checking company Experian was up 13.5

percent after posting an 8 percent rise in first-half earnings

and saying that third quarter revenue growth should be similar

to that seen in the first six months of its business year.

'Fundamental valuations are cheap, but it's all about

confidence, and timing,' said McAlinden.

The Bank of England's decision to cut the base rate to 3

percent this month was unanimous, the minutes released on

Wednesday showed