(Corrects time in second paragraph)

* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.3 pct after hitting 4-week low

* Financials, drugmakers among top decliners

* Royal Bank of Scotland falls 7.2 percent

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - European shares hit a four-week low on Monday, extending the previous session's sharp declines on doubts that the stock market had rallied ahead of economic recovery, with banks featuring among top losers.

By 0929 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.3 percent at 973.90 points after falling to 968.19 -- the lowest since early October. It fell 2.1 percent on Friday, the biggest one-day slide in nearly four months, hit by weak U.S. consumer sentiment data.

The index, which is up 17 percent so far in 2009, has gained 51 percent since hitting a record low in early March.