European stocks extend slide, led by banks

LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) - European stocks extended an early slide to more than 2.5 percent on Tuesday as banks fell further on fears of more losses and of capital raising in the sector.

At 0749 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 2.6 percent at 1,148.55 points, with banks contributing more than a fifth of the index's losses.

UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) fell more than 4 percent, while among mid-caps, Britain's Alliance & Leicester (ALLL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) slid 8.4 percent and Bradford & Bingley (BB.L: Quote, Profile, Research) plummeted 23 percent.

Oil stocks were also big contributors to the index's loss, with BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) down 1.9-2.8 percent as the oil price traded near $141, well off record highs hit last week.

(Reporting by Sitaraman Shankar)