RBS Sends Euro Shares Lower; Miners Rise

European shares fell for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, led lower by banks after Royal Bank of Scotland unveiled a record rights issue, while gains in mining and oil stocks lent some support.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index unofficially closed down 0.6 percent at 1,303.88 points.

Shares in Britain's second largest bank fell 4.6 percent after it unveiled a 12 billion pound ($23.70 billion) rights issue and said it would also sell assets to generate 4 billion pounds in core capital this year.

"This indicates that the crisis is not over yet and that we may see further surprises," said Carsten Klude, chief economist at M.M. Warburg in Hamburg.

"The risk that profit forecasts are too high prevails. Especially forecasts for the second half of the year are still too optimistic," he said.

Mining stocks jumped on a rise in copper futures amid a widening strike at world number one producer Codelco.

Kazakhmys rose 4.1 percent, Xstrata rose 2 percent and Antofagasta rose 3.5 percent.

The DJ Stoxx oil and gas index rose 0.3 percent as oil prices struck a record high of more than $118 a barrel.

The sectors was also lifted by a 4 percent gain in Seadrill after the oilfield services group said it considered its acquisition of a near-10 percent stake in U.S. driller Pride International a financial investment.