European stocks end down

European stocks fell to their lowest in almost a month yesterday, with miners and oil firms losing as commodity prices sank, offsetting gains for telecoms on consolidation hopes fuelled by Telecom Italia.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended down 0.5 per cent at 1,349.51 points, having touched 1,342.8, its lowest level since August 15.

Across Europe, London's FTSE 100 ended down 0.5 per cent, France's CAC-40 fell 0.3 per cent, while Germany's DAX ended just 0.06 per cent higher, helped by heavyweight Deutsche Telekom.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.07 per cent by 1619 GMT.

Mining stocks dragged the market down, with Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Anglo American falling more than four per cent, as copper fell alongside gold and oil.

Europe's biggest oil producer BP fell 1.35 per cent, while Royal Dutch Shell ended 1.45 per cent lower as US crude oil prices slipped around a dollar to $65.58, adding to last week's decline.

The falling oil price also pulled Norwegian energy firms down, with heavyweights Statoil and Norsk Hydro falling more than 3.5 per cent. Oil field services firm Aker Kvaerner fell 8.5 per cent.

Nevertheless, Commerzbank analyst Peter Dixon said the commodities boom was far from over.

"Think back to when oil was at $60 in March. Did we hear at that time that the... boom was over. Indeed not. In fact, there was more chance of hearing Elvis was alive and running a Hamburger stall in Kabul," he said in a note.

On the upside, Telecom Italia took centre stage as its revamp plans, which might lead to the sale of mobile unit TIM, refuelled speculation of sector consolidation.