European shares flat, weighed on by financials

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.1 percent 
                                
 * Financials weigh on index; pharmas up
                                
 * Macro data eyed later in the day
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 
                                
 By Christoph Steitz
                                
 FRANKFURT, June 16 (Reuters) - European shares ticked higher
on Tuesday morning with the leading index weighed on by
financials, and after the previous session's steep losses.
                                
 At 0915 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was up 0.1 percent at 863.86 points, after
having been up as much as 0.3 percent earlier in the session.
                                
 "The questions is now whether the market correction will
continue," said Heino Ruland, market strategist at Ruland
Research in Germany, noting the heavy losses on Wall Street on
Monday and, to some extent, in Asia earlier on Tuesday.
                                
 U.S. stocks fell on Monday after regional manufacturing data
dented optimism about the economy's health and resource shares
fell alongside commodity prices. [ID:nN15237800]
                                
 Banks <.SX7P> and insurers <.SXIP> were the heaviest losers,
with BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, UniCredit <CRDI.MI> and Allianz
<ALVG.DE> down 2.1-3.6 percent.
                                
 The European Central Bank had said on Monday that euro area
insurance companies may face "significant" balance sheet stress
ahead due to financial market turbulence and a weak economy.
[ID:nLF820891]
                                
 It also said euro zone banks faced potential further
writedowns of $283 billion through 2010.
                                
 Around Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index <.FTSE> was up 0.5
percent, Germany's DAX index <.GDAXI> was flat and France's CAC
40 <.FCHI> was up 0.2 percent.
                                
 
                                
 PHARMAS GAIN, MACRO DATA EYED
                                
 Pharma stocks added most points to the pan-European index,
and the DJ STOXX European health care index <.SXDP> was up 0.8
percent.
                                
 German Bayer <BAYG.DE> rose 0.6 percent after its chief
executive told a newspaper that debt reduction and securing
liquidity was taking precedence over acquisitions during the
economic crisis. [ID:nLG314779]
                                
 Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> and GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L> rose
2.3 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.
                                
 Shares in Britain's biggest retailer Tesco <TSCO.L> rose 2.5
percent, after the company reported its best quarterly sales
rise in Britain for two years. [ID:nLG283312]
                                
 British consumer price inflation slowed less than
anticipated in May, staying above the Bank of England's 2
percent target. [ID:nONS004295]
                                
 Investors will also look out for more macro data from the
United States later in the day, with U.S. building permits due
1230 GMT, and industrial production due 1315 GMT.
                                
 "If housing permits and starts give reason to hope that the
U.S. housing market correction is running out, the recovery of
Bunds and U.S. Treasuries will start to falter. However, we do
not assume it is already about to end," Commerzbank wrote in a
note.