Europe shares turn positive as U.S. futures rise

European shares briefly turned positive in choppy trade on Tuesday afternoon, as U.S. futures pointed to a strong start on Wall Street.

At 1353 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.3 percent at 680.35 points, returning to the red after turning positive a few minutes earlier and trading up 0.1 percent at 682.69 points.

Earlier, the index had fallen as far as 672.84, a record low. U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open as investors bet U.S Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would shed light on plans to shore up the financial system a day after Wall Street slid to a 12-year low.

Banks were mostly positive, having been lower in earlier trade.

Standard Chartered was up 9.6 percent after its results. BNP Paribas, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank were up between 2 and 2.8 percent.

Investors, who are expected to hunt for bargains in beaten-down sectors, are also looking to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the economy for direction.

Futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all up 0.8 percent.