European shares fall; focus from Obama to economy

By Atul Prakash

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares ended lower on Wednesday after six straight sessions of gains, as commodity shares tracked falling crude and metal prices and the focus shifted back to global economic growth after the U.S. election.

FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares closed 2.2 percent lower at 953.24 points. The index has lost nearly 37 percent so far this year.

Analysts said the new U.S. administration under election winner Barack Obama, which takes office in January, will face the world's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and a potentially steep downturn in the global economy.

"Back to the realities of financial world and it seems that the euphoria didn't last that long, with stock markets around the globe peering into what they increasingly believe will be a long and protracted period of global recession," said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners.

Commodity stocks were one of the biggest sectoral losers on the index as crude oil prices fell more than 7 percent, while copper, zinc and nickel prices slipped 3.7 to 6 percent.

BP, Royal Dutch Shell, gas producer BG Group, Cairn Energy and Tullow Oil shed between 1.9 and 4.2 percent.

Banking shares were also lower, with Standard Chartered losing 4.3 percent, UBS falling 2 percent and Commerzbank shedding 3.4 percent.

"Nothing immediately is going to change as a result of the election victory. We still haven't broken the downtrends," said Darren Winder, head of economics and strategy at Cazenove.