European stocks knocked lower by commodity slump

Paris - European shares fell on Monday, led lower by oil and mining stocks, as weak Chinese and eurozone economic data fuelled a rout in the commodities market.

Shares in UK telecom group Vodafone sank 4.4% on talk it would bid for cable operator Liberty Global .

Sources said Vodafone is reviewing potential acquisitions, including Liberty Global, to counter pending consolidation among rivals in Britain.

At 15:00, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.6% at 1 384.27 points.

Shares in oil majors and oil services companies sank as Brent crude oil tumbled to a five-year low below $68 a barrel. Fugro fell 2.6%, ENI 1.6% and Royal Dutch Shell 0.8%.

READ: Oil hits multi-year lows as Opec verdict weighs

In the United States, "shale gas and shale oil have added around 0.5% to gross domestic data (GDP) per year in my model, and I think it will now subtract 0.5% to 1.0% as projects become unprofitable and credit in the sector tanks," said Steen Jakobsen, chief investment officer at Saxo Bank, in Copenhagen.

The STOXX Europe 600 energy sector index has fallen into bear market territory, down 23% since late June. That amounts to wiping out market capitalisation of roughly $250bn - more than the entire market value of Shell, according to Reuters data.

Mining shares also dropped, falling along with copper prices, which tumbled to a four-and-a-half year low, hurt by signs of slowing factory growth in Europe and China.

BHP Billiton fell 2.2% and Rio Tinto dropped 1.4%.

Data showed that manufacturing slowed more than expected in China in November and stalled in the eurozone, where new orders fell at the fastest pace in 19 months.

"There's downward pressure on many commodities. That is a function of disappointing global growth and especially the slowdown in China," Wouter Sturkenboom, senior investment strategist at Russell Investments, said.

Bucking the trend, shares in airlines rallied on Monday. Air France rose 0.4% and Ryanair 1.3%. Fuel accounts for around a third of airlines' operating costs.

Germany's biggest utility, E.ON, rose 4.1% after announcing plans to split in two and spin off most of its power generation, energy trading and upstream businesses.