Europe shares fall in early trade; oils slip

European shares fell in early trade on Monday, having hit a four-week closing low on Friday, with a fall in energy companies more than offsetting gains for miners. At 0713 GMT, FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares was down 0.2 percent at 961.89 points.

The index fell 1.9 percent to a four-week closing low on Friday, after U.S. jobless numbers were higher than forecast, but is still up 49 percent from the lifetime low it hit on March 9.

"The tone of the market has been dominated by the (U.S.) employment report," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers. "But the improvement in the labour market is still very much on trend. The market was overbought, and had had a diet of positive surprises."

Oil producers fell, as crude prices hovered just below $70 a barrel. Total, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol fell between 0.7 and 1.1 percent.

Among miners, Anglo American, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Lonmin, Rio Tinto, Vedanta and Xstrata rose between 1.4 and 2.1 percent, as the price of copper and other metals picked up.

Later in the session, investors' attention will turn to the PMI services data in the United States.