Europe stocks close down 1.3 pct; banks weigh

                                
 * Eurofirst 300 index closes 1.3 pct down
                                
 * Banks among biggest fallers
                                
 * AstraZeneca up on drug trial
                                
 
                                
 By Joanne Frearson
                                
 LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - European shares closed lower on
Monday as investors locked in profits after the benchmark index
hit a four-month high in the previous session, with banks and
energy stocks taking the most points off the index.
 The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
shares closed 1.3 percent lower at 854.56 points. The index is
up about 32 percent since hitting a record low in early March.
                                
 "What we have here is a bit of profit taking. Everything had
got slightly over excited. Technically, equity markets have been
overbought ... I suppose we have got a bit of a reality check
kicking in," said Jim Wood-Smith, head of research at Williams
de Broe.
                                
 Banks were among the biggest fallers. Standard Chartered
<STAN.L>, Nordea Bank <NDA.ST>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC> and
Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> fell 0.5-6.8 percent.
                                
 HSBC <HSBA.L> recovered from earlier falls to gain 0.1
percent. Europe's biggest bank, said first-quarter profits were
"well ahead" of last year, swelled by record results in its
investment bank, but would have been down without accounting
gains on its debt. [ID:nLB716280]
                                
 Energy stocks were lower as crude <CLc1> tumbled 1.3
percent. BG Group <BG.L>, BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>
and Total <TOTF.PA> were down 1-2.7 percent.
                                
 
                                
 ASTRAZENECA SOARS ON DRUG TRIAL
                                
 Miners fell as copper <MCU3=LX> slipped 2.9 percent. Lonmin
<LMI.L>, the world's third-biggest platinum producer, lost
nearly 10 percent after it unveiled a $457 million rights issue
to pay off debt and bolster its balance sheet. [ID:nL81008436]
                                
 BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Xstrata <STA.L> and Anglo American
<AAL.L> were down 1.3-2.8 percent.
                                
 AstraZeneca <AZN.L> rose 5.5 percent after its experimental
heart drug Brilinta beat Sanofi-Aventis SA <SASY.PA> and
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's <BMY.N> blockbuster Plavix in a
pivotal clinical trial. [ID:nLB630992]
                                
 Sanofi-Aventis was down 1.1 percent.
                                
 SAP <SAPG.DE> was 2.9 percent higher as co-Chief Executive
Leo Apotheker said he believed the business software maker
should stay independent, following fresh speculation that
Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> could bid for the German company.
[ID:nN11524386]
                                
 Apotheker declined comment on speculation about a Microsoft
bid.
                                
 Centrica <CNA.L> gained 6 percent after it said it would pay
2.3 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) for a stake in British Energy,
giving it vital exposure to upstream nuclear power generation as
a hedge to its domestic household business and to protect it
from volatile wholesale energy prices. [ID:nLB582109]
                                
 The deal sees Centrica pay out less cash than had originally
been anticipated.
                                
 Security services group G4S <GFS.L> was 6.3 percent higher
after it said it had made a strong start to the year, with
first-quarter operating profit up 24 percent at constant
currency rates and a slight improvement in margins.
[ID:nLB595479]
                                
 Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index was down 0.6
percent, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> was 1 percent lower and France's
CAC 40 <.FCHI> was down 1.9 percent.
 (Additional reporting Christoph Steitz; editing by Simon
Jessop)