* FTSEurofirst 300 ends down 0.2 pct, off 1.8 pct in Nov
* Euro STOXX 50 breaks below 6-month upward channel
* Peripheral indexes hammered again by debt worries
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, Nov 30 (Reuters) - European stocks dipped on Tuesday,
struggling to halt a sharp three-week sell-off as investors
continued to dump banking shares on mounting fears of a domino
effect in the euro zone after Ireland's bailout.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> closed 0.2 percent lower at
1,067.22 points, posting a 1.8 percent loss for November, the
index's heaviest monthly slump since May.
Peripheral benchmarks took another beating with Italy's FTSE
MIB <.FTMIB> losing 1.1 percent, Portugal's PSI 20 <> down
1.3 percent, and Spain's IBEX <> down 0.6 percent.
The Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index <.TRXFLDPIPU> fell
1.6 percent, hitting its lowest level since early July.
"There's such a distrust in the euro zone. Long-only
investors are turning to German industrial stocks and equities
in emerging economies. The only good thing in this crisis for
European stocks is the weakening euro," said David Thebault,
head of quantitative sales trading at Global Equities in Paris.
Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> lost 3.6 percent, Bankinter
<BKT.MC> dropped 3.2 percent and Banco Espirito Santo <BES.LS>
fell 2.8 percent.
The euro zone's debt crisis escalated on Tuesday, with
investors pushing the risk premium on Spanish and Italian
government bonds to euro lifetime highs on fears the region's
shaky economies could ultimately be forced to default.
[]
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Euro zone debt timeline: http://link.reuters.com/nyx95q
Take a Look on Irish bailout: []
Euro zone crisis : http://r.reuters.com/hus75h
Graphic on debt problems: http://r.reuters.com/zem66q
Euro correlation with Greek and Irish bond spreads
http://r.reuters.com/paf66q
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
The euro currency dropped across the board, sinking to
2-1/2-month lows against the U.S. dollar, while the VDAX-NEW
volatility index <.V1XI>, one of Europe's main barometers of
investor anxiety, hit a three-month high, adding to Monday's
jump after a bailout of Ireland failed to ease investors' fears
of contagion.
The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 <> index
lost 0.7 percent on Tuesday to 2,650.99 points, extending its
3-week sell-off sparked by the Irish debt crisis to 8.7 percent.
By comparison, the index lost nearly 20 percent in April-May
during the Greek debt crisis.
"The index has broken below its uptrend channel and there
are no signals of stabilisation at this point, so it's poised to
continue to lose ground," said Alexandre Le Drogoff, technical
analyst at Aurel BGC, in Paris.
"This pullback cancels the positive scenario for the index
developed during the last few months. The next big support level
is at 2,560 points, which represents a low hit in August."
On the upside, mining stocks gained ground on Tuesday,
rising along with metals prices on persistent concerns about
supply tightness.
Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and BHP Billiton <BLT.L> rose 0.9 percent.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by David Hulmes)
