European shares slip as commodities weigh

European shares edged lower in thin early trading on Wednesday, with falls in commodities overshadowing gains in banking stocks.

By 0914 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.2 percent at 1,045.25 points, with volumes on the index about 5 percent of the 90-day daily average.

The index is up 62 percent since reaching a lifetime low in early March and is on track to record a gain of 26 percent this year, its best annual performance since 1999.

"There is just no volume. The business for the year has been done and unless we have any unexpected announcements the market will not move much in either direction until the New Year," said Howard Wheeldon, strategist at BGC Partners.

Energy stocks were lower. BG Group, Dana Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell and Total were down 0.2 to 1.2 percent.

Miners slipped as gold prices retreated on the back of a firmer dollar. Anglo American, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata were 0.3 to 1.2 percent lower.

Banks added the most points to the index. HSBC, UniCredit, Societe Generale were up 0.5 to 0.7 percent.

However, Standard Chartered fell 0.8 percent reflecting weakness by banks in Hong Kong on concerns over further Chinese government measures to temper asset bubbles.

Later in the session, investors will eye the U.S. Chicago PMI for December at 1445 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a December reading of 55.0 compared with 56.1 in November.

Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX was 0.3 percent lower and France's CAC 40 fell 0.1 percent.