European shares down by midday, financial woes weigh

* FTSEurofirst 300 index down 0.9 percent

* Financials fall as credit crisis concerns resurface

* Miners gain on rising commodity prices

By Eva Kuehnen

FRANKFURT, Aug 21 (Reuters) - European shares fell by midday on Thursday, briefly touching a three-week low as renewed concernsabout banks' balance sheets weighed on financial stocks, off-setting gains in miners. Among individual gainers, Daimler (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) shares rose almost 2 percent after the German car maker denied a magazine report that said it was considering a bourse listing for parts of its market-leading trucks business.

By 1021 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.9 percent at 1,154.68 points, briefly hitting its lowest level since July 29.

Financial shares were the strongest negative pull on the index and the DJ Stoxx banking index fell 1.9 percent.

HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 2.4 percent, BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 2.5 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) declined 2.9 percent.