European shares fall sharply, led by banks on BoA

FRANKFURT, April 20 (Reuters) - European shares closed sharply lower on Monday, with banks taking most points off the index as investors gave the thumbs down to Bank of America (BAC.N) results marked by an increase in troubled loans.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares provisionally closed 3.5 percent lower at 785.85 points. The index has fallen 5.5 percent so far this year, but is up 21.7 percent since reaching a multi-year low on March 9.

"This (the slump) is just a logical consequence of what happened over the last six weeks, in which the market has constantly gained," said Philippe Gijsels, senior equity strategist at Fortis.

"This could be the end of the bear market rally," he added.

Banks took the most points off the index, with BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Deutsche Bank DBGKn.DE and Barclays (BARC.L) all down between 6.6 and 8.6 percent.

Across Europe the FTSE 100 .FTSE index was down 2.5 percent, Germany's DAX .GDAXI was down 4.1 percent and France's CAC 40 .FCHI fell 4 percent. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz)