* FTSEurofirst 300 falls 1.1 percent ahead of U.S. jobs data
* Financials top losers; RBS slumps after earnings results
* Miners track weaker metals prices, but telecoms up
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - European equities headed lower by midday on Friday ahead of market-sensitive U.S. employment data, with a sharp decline in shares of Royal Bank of Scotland after disappointing results dragging down financial stocks.
Miners also lost ground after key base metal prices slipped, but analysts said overall sentiment remained positive and equity markets were poised to climb higher in the medium term after trading sideways to lower in the coming sessions.
At 1116 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was 1.1 percent lower at 928.63 points after closing 0.4 percent higher in the previous session and hitting a nine-month peak earlier this week.
The index has gained in 14 of 20 sessions and is up 44 percent from a lifetime low in March. But the benchmark, which slumped 45 percent in 2008, is still down 43 percent from it multi-year peak in 2007.
"People are cautious ahead of this very important employment figures," said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities.
"Probably you are going to have a technical correction in the short term because markets are overbought. But after that, it's possible that we will have a rally that may last longer as you may see a whole lot of data exceeding expectations. For sure, there is a positive momentum in the market."
Investors awaited the U.S. July employment report, due at 1230 GMT. In a Reuters survey, economists forecast that 320,000 U.S. jobs were lost in July compared with a loss of 467,000 jobs in June.
Financial shares were among the biggest decliner. Royal Bank of Scotland slipped 12 percent after it reported more losses as investment banking profits failed to offset bad debts and the state-owned lender warned of more "poor" results to come before its own and the economy's recovery.
Other banks were under pressure. Standard Chartered, HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole fell 0.4-6.7 percent.
ALLIANZ DOWN; MINERS TRACK METALS
Allianz fell 2.8 percent after it forecast that business would remain challenging with lower expected returns, but it beat expectations with a 21 percent rise in net profit during the second quarter.
"Generally, most companies tend to beat estimates, but expectations have been lowered so much it is not so difficult to beat these levels," said Philippe Gijsels, senior equity strategist at Fortis Bank.
"Earnings are still down 30 something percent in the U.S. and Europe, so it is not good. If you look at where the profits have come most of this has been through cost cutting."
Shares in Belgium's Umicore slumped 10 percent after the metals group reported a sharp drop in first-half profit and said it sees second-half recurring operating profit roughly the same as in the first half. Miners came under pressure as metals prices retreated. BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Eurasian Natural Resources fell 1.5-5.7 percent.
On the upside, defensive stocks were in favour. Telecom groups Vodafone, Telefonica, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom were up 0.7-2.8 percent.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 were down 0.6-1.1 percent. (Additional reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Mariam Karouny)