* FTSEurofirst 300 flat after ECB and BoE hold rates
* Banks fall, led by HSBC
* BP up on Russia move; new CEO lifts Unilever
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - European shares were flat on
Thursday as losses in banks offset stronger commodities, and
investors quickly shifted focus to a European Central Bank news
conference after the bank kept rates on hold.
At 1207 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was flat at 1,182.03 points.
Banks took most points off the index. HSBC <HSBA.L> fell 1.9
percent, while UBS <UBSN.VX>, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> and
Commerzbank <CBKG.DE> lost between 1 and 1.2 percent.
Unilever jumped 6.6 percent, the biggest gain in the top
index, after it announced the appointment of Nestle <NESN.VX>
executive Paul Polman as its new head.
Shares in BP <BP.L> were the top-weighted gainer, however,
rising 3 percent, after BP and its Russia-connected co-owners in
oil company TNK-BP <TNBPI.RTS> said they had signed a memorandum
to solve a protracted conflict over the firm.
French bank Natixis <CNAT.PA> was a standout gainer, jumping
6.9 percent as analysts bet on the success of its deeply
discounted rights issue.
As widely expected, the Bank of England and the European
Central Bank each kept their key interest rate on hold, at 5
percent and 4.25 percent respectively.
The European Central Bank was due to hold a news conference
at 1230 GMT.
"The ECB decision was very much expected," said Gareth
Williams, European equity strategist at ING. "The wider question
is to what extent company earnings in the second half of the
year will be affected by the recessionary environment."
Sweden's central bank raised its key interest rate by a
quarter percentage point to 4.75 percent, focusing on
above-target inflation rather than slowing economic growth.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE <> was up 0.4 percent,
while Germany's DAX <> fell 0.9 percent and France's CAC
<> lost 0.6 percent.
The Unites States was set for a weaker opening, with the Dow
<DJc1>, S&P 500 <SPc1> and Nasdaq futures <NDc1> between 0.1 and
0.5 percent lower.
COMMODITIES SURGE
Heavyweight oil and mining stocks were broadly stronger as
crude <CLc1> ticked 77 cents higher to $110.12 a barrel, gold
bounced and copper futures rose.
Antofagasta <ANTO.L> gained 3.5 percent and Kazakhmys
<KAZ.L> rose 2.8 percent, while Total <TOTF.PA> rose 1.2
percent.
Technology stocks weakened as investors fretted that an
economic slowdown would hurt tech spending. Nokia <NOK1V.HE>
fell 056 percent and STMicro <STM.PA> lost 2.9 percent.
(Additional reporting by Sitaraman Shankar; Editing by Quentin
Bryar)
