* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 0.1 percent
* Energy firms weak as crude prices slip
* Bank reverse earlier losses; fears over U.S. plans wane
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Monday,
with energy firms on the back foot as crude oil prices
retreated, but losses were limited by gains in banks as fears
over a U.S. plan to curb risk-taking subsided.
By 0935 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index
<> shed 0.1 percent at 1,023.76 points, on track for the
fourth-straight session of losses after closing at a five-week
low on Friday.
Oil and gas producers were among the biggest decliners, as
crude prices <CLc1> fell close to one-month lows near $74 a
barrel. BG Group <BG.L>, BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>
and Total <TOTF.PA> lost 0.4 to 0.8 percent.
Losses in Europe mirrored weakness on Wall Street where U.S.
stocks suffering their worst three-day slide in 10 months on
Friday on fears over U.S. President Barack Obama's plans to
restrict banks' risk-taking.
Banks, which had been weak in early trade, featured among
the top gainers, with traders sceptical over the impact of the
plan on the European sector.
Barclays <BARC.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>,
Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> gained
0.3 to 1.7 percent.
"It was a bit of an overreaction and some sense is now
coming back into the market. There is going to be a lot of
nervousness and waiting until we know the full plans," said
Philip Gillett, a trader at IG index.
"The general consensus is that this correction has been
overdue for a while and we're going to move sideways for quite a
while until we see clearer plans of how things are going to pan
out."
Among individual movers, the world's biggest mobile networks
maker Ericsson <ERICb.ST> lost 2.5 percent after it posted
lower-than-expected sales for the fourth quarter.
Rivals Alcatel-Lucent <ALUA.PA> and Nokia <NOK1V.HE> both
shed 0.9 percent. Shares in tech firms were also impacted by
Google Inc <GOOG.O>, which posted revenue growth that lagged
some of Wall Street's most bullish expectations, although its
profit was higher than expected. [] []
But Philips Electronics <PHG.AS> advanced 5.2 percent after
the Dutch conglomerate reported a bigger-than-expected operating
profit.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <> was up 0.2
percent, while Germany's DAX <> and France's CAC 40
<> lost 0.5 and 0.2 percent.
MINERS STRONG
Shares in mining companies gained as metals prices edged off
earlier lows.
Anglo American <AAL.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Kazakhmys
<KAZ.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L> added 0.4 to 1.4
percent.
But pharmaceutical firms fell, with AstraZeneca <AZN.L>,
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> and Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> down 0.6 to
0.9 percent.
Later in the session, investors will watch U.S. home sales
for December, at 1500 GMT, for clues on the timing of the
economic recovery in the country. Analysts polled by Reuters
expect the numbers to show a 10 percent drop after rising 7.4
percent in the previous month.
