Miners, oil stocks weigh on European shares as commodities slump

* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.7 pct

* Weak China data hits miners

* Oil stocks extend slump as crude falls

* E.ON boosted by spinoff plans

By Francesco Canepa

LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Monday as weak Chinese and euro zone economic data contributed to a rout in the commodities market and early indications of disappointing sales at the start of the U.S. holiday shopping season.

At 0942 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.7 percent at 1,383.49 points, falling for the first time in seven sessions.

Mining stocks weighed as London copper tumbled to its lowest level in four-and-a-half years and oil fell more than $2 a barrel to a five-year low.

Data showed China's factories slowed more than expected in November, casting a shadow over demand prospects at a time when the oil market already faces a supply glut.

Oil services company Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW.L - news) tumbled 7.3 percent while miner BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) shed 3.9 percent.

"There's downward pressure on many commodities. That is a function of disappointing global growth and especially the slowdown in China," Wouter Sturkenboom, senior investment strategist at Russell Investments, said. "That is negative for equities."

Airlines, however, rose on the prospect of cheaper fuel, which accounts for around a third of their costs. EasyJet was up 2 percent.

Precious metals' miners were also under pressure after gold slid 2 percent on Monday and silver slumped to its lowest since 2009.

Swiss voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to boost central bank gold reserves, providing a new trigger for sell-offs in an already nervous market.

The FTSEurofirst briefly extended its losses after data showed euro zone manufacturing growth stalled in November and new orders fell at the fastest pace in 19 months.

Adding to the more subdued market tone after a two-week rise for major European indexes, the U.S. National Retail Federation estimated sales over the full Thanksgiving weekend would show a decline of 11.3 percent from a year earlier.

Germany's biggest utility E.ON bucked the trend, rising 3.8 percent after announcing plans to split in two and spin off most of its power generation, energy trading and upstream businesses.

Telecoms group Altice SA rose 4.9 percent after agreeing to buy the Portuguese operations of Brazil's Grupo Oi for about 7.4 billion euros ($9.2 billion).

The deal with Oi (NYSE: OIBR - news) marks the effective unwinding of Oi's ill-fated merger with Portugal Telecom, whose shares fell 9 percent. (Editing by Susan Fenton)