Europe shares slip for 3rd day; banks, miners down

LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - European shares fell for a third day in a row on Monday after results from HSBC (HSBA.L) highlighted the ongoing impact of the credit crunch on the banks, while a drop in metal prices weighed on miners.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of top European shares ended 1.1 percent lower at an unofficial 1,151.32 points, making this its third consecutive daily decline.

Banks were the worst performers on the index.

Shares in HSBC -- Europe's biggest bank -- were among the largest individual drags on the European market, falling 1.4 percent after it said its first-half profit fell 28 percent, in line with forecasts, although a $14 billion hit on bad debts on U.S. home loans and asset writedowns offset strong Asian growth.

"HSBC today was a reasonable set of numbers. I think they've done well to expose themselves to the fast-growing emerging markets, but clearly it's showing you the problems in the U.S. continue, the credit crunch continues to bite and even for some of the more successful financial institutions it continues to take its toll," said Henk Potts, a strategist at Barclays Stockbrokers.

In the mining sector, Rio Tinto (RIO.L), Xstrata (XTA.L) and Anglo American (AAL.L) fell between 4.5 and 6 percent as copper hit four-month lows and platinum fell to six-month troughs. (Reporting by Amanda Cooper)