European shares gain but UK banks weigh (Reuters) (14-05-2008)

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - European shares were advancing on Wednesday on  takeover talk that favoured miners, while strong results boosted Airbus parent EADS. British banks, on the other hand, were hurt by concern over the need for more rights issues.

At 0813 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.6 percent at 1,354 points.

Across Europe, the FTSE was fractionally in positive territory gaining a mere 0.2%, while the DAX rose by 0.3%, and France's CAC rose 0.7%, powered by EADS and bank BNP Paribas.

Banks were mixed, with BNP Paribas rising 2 percent after its quarterly profits beat analysts' forecasts, UBS up 1 percent and UniCredit gaining 1.6 percent but British lenders led lower by Bradford & Bingley, which slid 9 percent after unveiling a rights issue.

Analysts said that more British banks may be forced to bolster their capital position, and stock in Barclays, Alliance & Leicester, Lloyds TSB and HBOS fell between 1 and 4 percent.

  Source Reuters