Europe shares dip early as commodities, data weigh

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.1 pct, breaks 3-day winning run
                                
 * Banks reverse earlier gains
                                
 * Macro data give mixed picture
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 
                                
 By Christoph Steitz
                                
 FRANKFURT, March 24 (Reuters) - European stocks dipped early
on Tuesday, weighed down by commodity shares and breaking a
three-day winning streak after euro zone and UK macro data
showed job losses and higher inflation.
                                
 At 1005 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3>
index was down 0.1 percent at 738.76 points. The index is down
about 11 percent this year, but has recovered about 14.8 percent
since falling to a record low on March 9.
                                
 Commodity shares tracked weakness in oil and metal prices.
                                
 Anglo American <AAL.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and BHP Billiton
<BLT.L> were all down 4.5 to 5.9 percent as copper fell more
than 2 percent, while Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> fell 2.3
percent.
                                
 On Monday, the U.S. government offered incentives for
private investors to help free banks of up to $1 trillion in
toxic assets, helping shares to a massive recovery.
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 However in Europe banks gave up early gains, with Credit
Suisse <CSGN.VX> down 2.6 percent after it said it would ask
shareholders for the option to raise equity capital. HSBC
<HSBA.L> fell 6 percent on worries about Asian growth.
                                
 "This is a positive flickering but for me nothing has
fundamentally changed. Economic data remains grim," said
Hans-Juergen Delp, equity market strategist at Commerzbank in
Frankfurt.
                                
 British consumer price inflation rose unexpectedly to 3.2
percent in February, while key figures from euro zone services
and manufacturing activity showed the economy's contraction
eased a bit, while companies continue to slash jobs.
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 Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index was down 1.2
percent, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> was up 0.1 percent and France's
CAC 40 <.FCHI> lost 0.2 percent.
                                
 Analysts sounded a cautionary note on the U.S. plan.
                                
 "It is every policy maker's dream that the private sector
will realise that assets are mis-priced and pour in capital to
correct such a mis-pricing," Credit Suisse said in a global
equity strategy note on Geithner's plan.
                                
 "In reality, the private sector is shell-shocked, ultra
cautious and at the very least such an allocation of capital
will take some time to implement," Credit Suisse said.
                                
 Shares in Metro <MEOG.DE> dropped 3.7 percent after the
world's fourth-largest retailer reported fourth-quarter results
that met analysts' forecasts, but said it saw 2009 sales falling
significantly short of its medium-term goal.
                                
 "The 2008 numbers were solid, but the missing outlook for
2009 is making the waters murky," says LBBW analyst Bernd Muell.
 (Editing by David Holmes)