FRANKFURT, Oct 10 (Reuters) - European shares tumbled to their lowest close in more than five years on Friday amid panic-selling which hit financials particularly hard on fears that frozen credit markets may spark a global recession. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares lost 7.6 percent to finish at 851.23 points -- its lowest close since July 2, 2003. The pan-European benchmark fell as much as 9.9 percent earlier in the session and had its worst week on record with a drop of 22 percent. 'The new lows we've seen in stock markets this week are the result of panic selling,' said Joost van Leenders, asset allocation specialist at Fortis Investments. The DJ Stoxx European bank index fell 10.4 percent, with Royal Bank of Scotland down more than 25 percent, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank dropping over 16 percent each,...
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