LONDON (Reuters) - Banks dragged European shares down on Monday as a growing economic crisis in Turkey shook investor confidence in lenders exposed to the country, while pharmaceuticals group Bayer sank 11 percent after its subsidiary Monsanto lost a key lawsuit.
The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.3 percent to a three-week low, with Germany's DAX down 0.4 percent as pharmaceuticals group Bayer weighed.
Bayer was the worst performer, sinking 10.8 percent after Monsanto, the U.S. agriculture giant it acquired in June, was ordered to pay damages in a lawsuit alleging its glyphosate weedkiller caused a man's cancer.
"With several other similar cases up for hearing, we expect this to be an overhang on the stock," said Goldman Sachs analysts.
Bayer's shares were set for their biggest one-day fall in more than nine years.
Euro zone bank stocks tumbled 1.3 percent to a six-week low as Turkey-exposed banks BBVA Unicredit and BNP Paribas fell 0.9 to 2.6 percent.