Europe shares reverse 3-day rally as banks drop

PARIS: European stocks fell early on Wednesday, snapping a sharp three-session rally as Standard & Poor's downgrade of a number of European and US banks prompted investors to dump shares of financial institutions.

At 0804 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.9 percent at 939.62 points, after gaining 6.5 percent since a low hit on Friday.

Barclays, HSBC and UBS, downgraded by S&P, were down 1.5-1.8 percent.

"The market remains headline-driven," said David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading, at Global Equities.

"But we're starting to see big institutional investors coming back, mostly through equity futures to minimise the risks."