LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak, as weaker banking stocks on mounting concerns about a deep recession outweighed positive energy stocks that tracked stronger crude prices. The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares provisionally closed 0.8 percent lower at 853.74 points. It has lost 43 percent this year, battered by the credit crisis, which has helped push several major economies into recession. Banks took most points off the index, with Unicredit (CRDI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) falling 4.6 percent, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 4.5 percent, Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) falling 5.8 percent and Commerzbank (CBKG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 2.9 percent. "There is still too much uncertainty. It's too early to say, but we may be finding a bottom here. If we get some stability, that would be nice," said Edmund Shing, strategist at BNP Paribas, in Paris. "People are looking for direction. The good news is that the market is not going down on back of bad economic news, but apart from that you are getting a lot of volatility." But Energy shares advanced, tracking an 8 percent jump in crude prices after the International Energy Agency predicted global growth in crude demand would resume in 2009. BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), gas producer BG Group (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Tullow Oil (TLW.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) added between 2.7 and 20 percent. (Reporting by Atul Prakash)

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