European shares flat; weak CRH, oils offset banks

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - European shares were flat in early trade on Tuesday as weakness in construction materials following CRH (CRH.I) update and oil producers offset gains in banks and drugmakers.

By 0719 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was down 0.04 percent at 832.71 points, after falling 1.1 percent on Monday -- its third straight losing session.

Construction materials were weaker after CRH said it expected first-half pretax profit of just 100 million euros, a fraction of last year's 600 million euros as recession bites hard.

CRH shares were down 2.1 percent, while Lafarge (LAFP.PA) lost 1.8 percent and Holcim (HOLN.VX) slipped 2.1 percent.

Oil producers were also weaker as crude prices CLc1 slipped. BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.AS) and Total (TOTF.PA) were down 0.6-0.9 percent.

But banks and drugmakers were in demand, with Commerzbank (CBKG.DE) up 3.7 percent and Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) rising 1 percent. In the pharmaceutical sector, Shire (SHP.L) put on 1.5 percent and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) added 0.3 percent.

"Certainly coming into this earnings season, there is going to be plenty of speculations as to what are the results coming through, what are the guidance for the forthcoming quarters," said Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.

"To that regard, we are going to see the market's pretty much on a day-by-day basis. I don't think you can see genuine patent emerge until where we are, perhaps, a good third into the earnings season." Alcoa (AA.N) is set to kick off the U.S. earnings season when it announces its second quarter results on Wednesday. (Reporting by Dominic Lau)