* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 1.4 percent
* Oils, miners slip, tracking lower commodities prices
* Irish banks rise on rescue package report
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 <BNPP.PA>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Commerzbank
<CBKG.DE>, Deutsche Bank <DBGKn.DE> and UBS <UBS.AG> fell
between 4.4 and 6.7 percent.
Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> was up 0.4 percent ahead of a meeting of
its shareholders to approve its takeover of HBOS <HBOS.L>, which
rose 10 percent.
ING <ING.AS> 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 <ANGL.I> was up 21.4 percent, Bank of
Ireland <BKIR.I> was up 9.5 percent and Allied Irish Banks
<ALBK.I> rose 8.3 percent.
Fortis <FOR.BR> 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 <LGEN.L> 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 <BLND.L> 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 <RIO.L>, Vedanta Resources <VED.L> and
Xstrata <XTA.L> fell 4.2 to 8.9 percent.
Oils fell as the crude price <CLc1> slipped more than 1
percent to below $54, near a 22-month low.
Total <TOTF.PA>, BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> and
Statoil <STL.OL> fell between 1 and 2.9 percent.
Vodafone <VOD.L> and HSBC <HSBA.L> fell 4.2 and 4.1 percent
respectively as they went ex-dividend.
Sentiment towards banks remained negative, with U.S. giant
Citigroup <C.N> trading near its lowest for several years after
announcing massive job cuts.
Credit checking company Experian <EXPN.L> 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.
(Reporting by Brian Gorman; editing by John Stonestreet)
