European shares post small loss for 2016, Britain's FTSE hits record high

By Kit Rees and Atul Prakash LONDON (Reuters) - European shares posted a small loss for 2016, though strong gains among mining stocks and the oil & gas sector as well as a turnaround in banks in the latter part of the year lent support, while Britain's FTSE 100 index climbed to a record high. Reversing steep losses from early in the year, mining stocks helped Europe's basic resources index to a 61.9-percent gain this year, bouncing back from a 35-percent slump in 2015. The bounce in miners a