Europe stocks edge higher; banks, miners gain

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - European shares edged higher in choppy trade on Friday, as mining stocks gained on higher precious metals prices and banks rose after sharply falling in previous sessions.

At 0819 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 was 0.2 percent higher at 782.96 points. The index skidded 3.8 percent on Thursday, when energy shares took a beating from crude prices tumbling to $50 a barrel.

Banks rose, with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) up 3.7 percent, Barclays (BARC.L) gaining 2.6 percent and Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) putting on 1.4 percent.

BHP Billiton (BLT.L), Anglo American (AAL.L), Vedanta Resources (VED.L), Lonmin (LMI.L), Kazakhmys (KAZ.L), Xstrata (XTA.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) rose between 2.7 and 7 percent.

Oil rose 1.6 percent to above $50 a barrel early on Friday, but oil shares BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Total (TOTF.PA) shed between 2 and 3.2 percent.

Major U.S. stock index slid between 5.1 and 6.7 percent on Thursday as economic concerns sent investors fleeing from risk. (Reporting by Rebekah Curtis)