Commodities weigh on European stocks; new CEO boosts Credit Suisse

* FTSEurofirst 300 ends 1 pct down, off Friday's 7-year high

* Oil and mining stocks fall sharply, track commodity prices

* Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS - news) surges after naming new CEO

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - European shares slipped further on Tuesday from a seven-year high after sharply weaker oil and metals prices pulled down commodities stocks, although Credit Suisse rallied after naming a new chief executive.

The Swiss lender's shares rose 7.8 percent after saying it had hired Prudential (SES: K6S.SI - news) head Tidjane Thiam as the first African to lead a global investment bank, with the job of reviving a company reeling from U.S. penalties and under increasing regulatory scrutiny. Prudential fell 3.1 percent.

"Credit Suisse has had different issues throughout the years and someone with a diverse background could look at its strategy with a fresh pair of eyes," said Sally Yim, vice president at Moody's Investors Service.

However, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 1 percent lower at 1,551.85 points after hitting a seven-year high of 1,579.93 points on Friday.

Weaker energy and mining sectors dragged down the broader stock market. The STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index fell 3.5 percent, the top sectoral decliner, while the European basic resources index fell 2.2 percent after a drop of 1.0 to 2.6 percent in crude oil and key metals prices.

"There is still some weakness in final demand for commodities. The world economy is growing, but momentum has faltered of late," Edmund Shing, global equity fund manager at BCS Asset Management, said.

"The share price volatility shows that investors are uncertain about market fundamentals in the near term following a strong start to the year," he said.

The FTSE 100, down 2.5 percent, was the worst performer among major European share indexes as energy and mining companies have a more than 20 percent weighting in Britain's blue-chip equity index.

Commodity-exposed stocks were the worst hit, with Galp Energia falling 7.9 percent after the Portuguese oil company cut its spending target for the next five years by around 20 percent, reflecting low oil prices.

Oil companies BG Group (LSE: BG.L - news) and Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW.L - news) fell 7.4 percent and 7.0 percent respectively, while miners Antofagasta (Other OTC: ANFGF - news) , BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) , Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) and Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) dropped 2.8 to 5.5 percent.

Among gainers, German reinsurer Hannover Re rose 2.9 percent after raising its dividend to 4.25 euros per share from 3 euros by offering a special dividend payment after record net income for the year.

Wacker Chemie (Xetra: WCH888 - news) advanced 3.8 percent after the German specialty chemicals maker said it was examining options for its Siltronic unit, including a stock market flotation and a sale to an investor.

Across Europe, Germany's DAX index fell 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 was down 1.1 percent, Spain's IBEX fell 1.4 percent and Italy's FTSE MIB was down 1 percent. (Additional reporting by Blaise Robinson in Paris; Editing by Tom Heneghan/Ruth Pitchford)