European shares close lower led by banks, airlines

FRANKFURT, March 13 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Thursday as financial sector woes weighed on banks such as UniCredit (CRDI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), with the high oil price taking its toll on airlines and euro strength hurting carmakers.

The FTSEurofirst 300 closed unofficially down 1.2 percent at 1,269.74 points, taking losses for the year to 15.7 percent.

The DJ Stoxx bank index was the leading sectoral loser with a drop of 2.6 percent followed by travel and leisure , which includes airlines, down 2.4 percent, and autos , which fell 2.1 percent.

Banks, however, trimmed intraday losses in excess of 4.5 percent after credit rating agency Standard & Poor's said in a report released late in the European trading day that an end to writedowns is now in sight for big financial institutions.

UniCredit, Europe's third-biggest bank, fell 4.1 percent after posting slightly lower-than-expected profits and saying it could no longer confirm an earlier 2008 earnings target. (Reporting by Peter Starck)