* FTSEurofirst 300 index closes down 0.7 percent
* Banks down on Greek woes; Tech shares rise on Apple
* Volkswagen gains on strong Q1 numbers
* For up-to-the minute market news, click on []
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - European shares fell on
Wednesday, led by banking stocks on investor concerns over how
Greece will finance its debt as talks to hammer out details of a
potential aid plan began.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares closed down 0.7 percent at 1,096.10 points. The index
which gained nearly 26 percent in 2009 is only up 4.8 percent
this year.
Banks snapped the previous session's gains to feature among
the worst performers. HSBC <HSBA.L>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC>,
BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> and UBS <UBSN.VX> lost 1.4 to 3.4 percent.
Greek bank shares <.FTATBNK> fell nearly 3 percent.
"The equity markets problems (weakness today) are really
because of the sovereign debt concerns and the political
discussions surrounding it ... there is still uncertainty," said
Giuseppe-Guido Amato, strategist at Lang & Schwarz in Frankfurt.
"U.S. company earnings have been good, but investors are
still staying on the sideline."
Technology stocks got some support after Apple's <AAPL.O>
results beat expectations, with Ericsson <ERICb.ST> and
Alcatel-Lucent <ALUA.PA> both rising 1.6 percent.
In other results news, Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> gained 3.8
percent after it said first-quarter operating profit nearly
tripled.
ENERGY STOCKS SLIP
Energy stocks were out of favour following sharp rises in
the previous session. Crude <CLc1> slipped 0.4 percent after
government oil inventory data showed crude stockpiles rose 1.9
million barrels last week, against a forecast for a slight drop.
BP <BP.L>, BG Group <BG.L> and Total <TOTF.PA> fell 1.1 to
2.6 percent.
Miners were also on the downside. Gold <XAU=> trimmed early
gains as the euro fell, while aluminium <MAL3=LX> slipped back
1.3 percent.
BHP Billiton <BLT.L> lost 2.8 percent after it reported
lower quarterly production across metals and coal, with copper
particularly hard hit and iron ore lagging that of rival Rio
Tinto <RIO.L>. []
Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L> and Rio Tinto
<RIO.L> were down 2 to 2.8 percent.
Food retailers were among the gainers, benefitting by
Goldman Sachs's move to up its target on the sector to "neutral"
from "cautious".
Tesco <TSCO.L>, WM Morrison <MRW.L>, J Sainsbury <SBRY.L>,
Jeronimo Martins <JMT.LS> and Metro AG <MEOG.DE> added 0.7 to
4.4 percent.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index fell 1 percent,
Germany's DAX <> lost 0.5 percent and France's CAC 40
<> slipped 1.2 percent.
(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Hans Peters)
