European shares hit three-month low on Brexit angst

(ADVISORY- Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development. See the bottom of the report for more details)

* FTSEurofirst 300 ends down 1.9 percent

* Markets spooked by Brexit fears

* Banks, autos bear brunt of selling

* G4S (Copenhagen: G4S.CO - news) drops after Orlando shooting

By Alistair Smout and Atul Prakash

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - European shares fell to their lowest level for more than three months on Monday, hit by a sell-off in cyclical stocks and widespread unease in markets over a possible British exit from the European Union.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed 1.9 percent lower at 1,284.36 points after hitting its lowest since late February and extending the previous session's 2.3 percent drop. The STOXX Europe 600 ended 1.8 percent lower, while Italy's FTSE MIB closed down 2.9 percent.

European shares came under further selling pressure following a risk-off pattern in global markets as investors positioned for central bank meetings this week and the referendum on Britain's EU membership set for June 23.

"We're in uncharted territory in front of the Brexit vote, and then there's also the Fed this week. So the wall of worry is quite high at the moment. All the banks are a little bit lower, and they're the ones which are likely to get hit," LONTRAD managing director, Zeg Choudhry, said.

"For the next two weeks, you've got to be slightly mad if you've not got your money in defensive stocks."

One poll in Britain, out after the market closed on Friday, gave the "out" campaign a 10-point lead, though two subsequent polls over the weekend painted a mixed picture of which side will win.

Bookmakers still believe that the referendum is likely to result in a vote to remain in the EU, although the probability of an "In" vote has dropped 10 percentage points from last week.

Before then, the U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . Federal Reserve, Bank of England, Swiss National Bank (LSE: 0QKG.L - news) and the Bank of Japan are all expected to hold monetary policy steady against a backdrop of caution heightened by the Brexit issue.

However, some fund managers said they would continue to focus on market fundamentals and not get distracted by noise around the referendum.

"We won't be partaking in any knee-jerk reactions, either before or after the referendum," Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL.L - news) fund manager, Lee Gardhouse, said.

"At present we consider UK and European markets to be reasonable value versus their history, but not a bargain. We do however believe that equities remain appealing on a relative basis, when compared to bonds and cash."

Cyclical stocks - sensitive to economic shifts - were the biggest fallers, with the auto and bank sectors down 2.1 and 2.9 percent respectively. Commodity stocks also came under pressure, with miners down 1.1 percent and oil and gas shares down 1.5 percent.

Among individual movers, mid-cap company G4S fell more than 5 percent after Sunday's shootings in Orlando.

The man who shot 50 people dead was employed by G4S and had undergone company screening in 2013 with "no findings", G4S said on Sunday. Traders said it would dent G4S's reputation in the United States, where it generates a major part of its revenue.

Today's European research round-up

ADVISORY - Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon (see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development). In a real-time, multimedia format from 0600 London time through the 1630 closing bell, it will include the best of our market reporting, Stocks Buzz service, Eikon graphics, Reuters pictures, eye-catching research and market zeitgeist. Breaking news and dramatic market moves will continue to be alerted to all clients and we will continue to provide a short opening story and comprehensive closing reports.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions or feedback on this, please email mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com.

Mike Dolan, Markets Editor EMEA.

(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Louise Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) )