Debt Fears Weigh on European Shares

European shares pared gains and turned negative in choppy trading on Wednesday, with traders citing doubts about how successful the European Central Bank was in buying sovereign bonds to reduce yields.

At 1102 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.2 percent at 968.33 points, having been in and out of positive territory several times, and up more than 1 percent at one point, on optimism the ECB was buying bonds and stemming the rise in yields.

High bond yields in Italy, Spain and other countries on concerns over their debt problems have been a major factor in pulling down share prices in recent days.