European shares fell for the fourth straight session on Tuesday as euro zone debt concerns continued to weigh on sentiment, although the regional blue chip index found support at a key technical level.
"The euro zone sovereign debt problems still remain in the centre of attention among speculation of Greece's debt restructuring," said Anita Paluch, Frankfurt-based trader at ETX Capital.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.3 percent at 1,136.40 points by 1152 GMT.
Investors remained cautious after chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker suggested Greek debt could undergo a "soft" restructuring if Athens embarks on major reforms and accelerates privatisation to raise funds.
Bund futures gained after Juncker's plea while the German blue chip index dropped to a session low. The index was underperforming other European indices with a 0.7 percent loss at 7.338.18.
German analyst and investor sentiment's weaker than expected reading for May, falling to the lowest level since November 2010, added to the bearish sentiment.
Among the other major regional indicies, Britain's FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 was 0.4 percent lower.
"The markets are likely to be dominated by headlines, as long as a concrete plan for Greece has not been officially submitted," said Commerzbank analyst Christoph Rieger.
ESTOXX
Regional blue chip index the Eurostoxx 50 was down 0.2 percent at 2,885.75 around midday, finding support at its 200-day moving average, Christian Schiller, a trader at WestLB, said.
"A rebound from the 2.850 level seems possible, looking at the charts … Unexpected positive news from the euro peripheral zone could spur the Eurostoxx 50 to outperform the DAX," he added.
Commodity stocks got support from crude oil and copper price gains, with the STOXX Europe 600 Oil & Gas index up 0.9 percent, while Essar Energy was among the top gainers after posting strong production results.
The STOXX Europe 600 Telecommunications index was 0.7 percent firmer, boosted by British mobile operator Vodafone after it gave a bullish outlook for 2011/12. Vodafone shares were up 1.9 percent.
French industrial and telecoms conglomerate Bouygues fell 3.8 percent after first-quarter results, with UBS reiterating its "sell" rating and citing weakness in its telecom businesses.
Elsewhere, Austrian oil group OMV was among the top fallers, down 4 percent after it announced a rights issue.
Carrefour was up 2.2 percent and one of the top gainers after the world's second-biggest retailer laid out plans to spin off discount chain Dia, with an estimated value of 3.6 billion euros.
"The shares are probably a bit oversold and there are some near-term catalysts that could help the bull case and the shares could see a small move up in the short term," RBS retail analyst Justin Scarborough said in a note.
