European shares hit 7-week low on economic outlook

* FTSEurofirst 300 index falls 1.9 percent

* Energy, mining shares follow weaker crude, metals prices

* Financials, autos slip; but drugmakers advance

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - European shares hit a seven-week low on Monday, mainly dragged down by banks, oils and miners, with investors trading cautiously on concerns about the pace of economic recovery and ahead of second-quarter results.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was down 1.9 percent at 826.81 points by 1100 GMT after touching 825.95 points -- the lowest level since May 14.

But the benchmark index, which slumped 45 percent in 2008, is still up 28 percent from its lifetime low in early March.

Energy stocks were among top losers on the index, tracking a 4.5 percent decline in crude oil CLc1 on doubts about the prospects of an early economic recovery and a firm dollar.

BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSb.L), BG Group (BG.L), Tullow Oil (TLW.L), Repsol (REP.MC), Total (TOTF.PA) and StatoilHydro (STL.OL) shed 2.4-3.4 percent.

"The road to recovery is still going to be incredibly bumpy and there are still some major hurdles to overcome before the markets could get tremendously excited about adding to the rally," said Henk Potts, strategist at Barclays Stockbrokers.

"We need to see some confirmation that the economic recovery is on track and corporate profitability is going to return. And until we get that, we suspect that the market will be in a nervous mood," he said.

Financials also fell. Standard Chartered (STAN.L), HSBC (HSBA.L), Barclays (BARC.L), Lloyds (LLOY.L), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), Societe Generale (SOGN.PA), Commerzbank (CBKG.DE) and KBC Groep (KBC.BR) fell 1.4-9.5 percent.

Miners lost ground as copper prices fell more than 2 percent, nickel was down 3 percent and zinc slipped 2.3 percent.

BHP Billiton (BLT.L), Anglo American (AAL.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L), Xstrata (XTA.L), Lonmin (LMI.L) and Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L) were down 3.4-9.2 percent.

Rio Tinto (RIO.L) fell 4.5 percent in line with the broader market. The miner agreed to sell its Americas food packaging business for $1.2 billion after last week raising $15.2 billion in one of the world's largest-ever rights issues. [ID:nSYD463954]