* FTSEurofirst 300 index flat
* Banks dip on euro zone debt concerns
* Hermes falls as family creates holding
* For up-to-the minute market news, click on []
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - European shares were flat on
Monday as uncertainty about the outcome of a euro zone finance
ministers meeting offset news that the Federal Reserve is open
to pumping more funds into the U.S. economy.
By 1041 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <>
index was flat at 1,103.95 points after being up as much as
1,108.55 earlier.
The market had initially received a boost after Fed Chairman
Bernanke told the television programme "60 Minutes", the Federal
Reserve could end up buying more than the $600 billion in U.S.
government bonds it had committed to purchase, if the economy
failed to respond or unemployment stayed too high.
But investors grew cautious ahead of the outcome of the euro
zone finance ministers meeting, which faces pressure to boost
the size of a 750 billion euro ($1,006 billion) safety net,
according to an IMF report obtained by Reuters. []
"The market is looking a bit tentative, we are looking
towards the euro zone finance ministers meeting to see how much
they are going to increase the safety net," Micky Mahbubani,
senior sales trader, at IG Index.
"But, we have not seen a major sell off yet as Bernanke
comments have been supportive. If the outcome of the meeting is
not as good as expected than I expect to see a sell off,"
Mahbubani said.
Banks which are sensitive to changes in the economic outlook
were among the worst performers. The STOXX Europe 600 Banks
<.SX7P> was down 1.3 percent. UBS <UBSN.VX>, Banco Santander
<SAN.MC> and Postbank <DPBGn.DE>> fell 2.2 to 4.3 percent.
Another drag on sentiment was news that Moody's Investors
Service had cut Hungary's credit rating. []
HERMES FALLS
Elsewhere on the downside, Hermes <HRMS.PA> lost 3.1 percent
after the family shareholders of the luxury bag maker announced
the creation of a holding firm to defend it against a potential
takeover bid by luxury giant LVMH <LVMH.PA>. []
"The group's situation seems to be, from a predator's
standpoint, durably blocked by guaranteeing the absence of
potential divestment intentions by certain family members," a
Paris-based trader said.
On the upside, the market got some support from commodity
stocks. Miner Xstrata <XTA.L> rose 2.2 percent on newspaper
reports Glencore [], which holds a stake of nearly 35
percent in the company, is looking to raise 6.3 billion pound
($9.94 billion) for a London Stock Exchange debut as early as
next year.
Oil stocks were boosted by a positive Bank of America
Merrill Lynch note on the sector. Tullow Oil <TLW.L>, Premier
Oil <PMO.L> and Cairn Energy <CNE.L> were 1.2 to 2.3 percent
higher.
On the technical front, the euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX
50 <> was down 0.4 percent at 2,772.60 sitting on its
200-day moving average, which coincides with an upper band of a
downward channel broken on Friday.
The next key support level is 2737.62, the index's 50
percent Fibonacci retracement of the index's sharp drop in April
and May.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index was 0.1 percent
higher, Germany's DAX <> gained 0.1 percent and France's
CAC 40 <> was down 0.3 percent.
(Reporting by Joanne Frearson. Editing by Jane Merriman)
