Europeanshares eased by midday in choppy trade onTuesday as gains in banking stocks after aFrench government move to support thesector were offset by weak automanufacturers and falling U.S. futures.



By 1228 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares wasdown 0.5 percent at 923.88 points, havingrisen earlier by as much as 1.7 percent.



Auto stocks were the largest drag onthe index as Germany's Volkswagen lost over 11 percent in volatile trade,while a drop in U.S. stock futures DJZ8SPZ8 NDZ8 undermined the broaderEuropean market.



Banks were still the top gainers on themarket, led by France's Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and CreditAgricole after France outlinedplans to lend 10.5 billion euros to thecountry's top six banks before the yearend.



SocGen and Credit Agricole were both upover 10 percent, while BNP Paribas gained 8percent, compared with a 0.4 percent gainin the DJ Stoxx index of European banks. Britain's HSBC was down3.8 percent, while Royal Bank of Scotland lost 9 percent.