European shares inched up in early trading on Tuesday, halting their week-long sell-off, with Orange and Deutsche Telekom rallying on news of talks with BT to sell EE, Reuters reported. Orange was up 4.1 percent and Deutsche Telekom up 1.4 percent after the two firms entered exclusive talks with BT for a potential 12.5 billion-pound ($19.6 billion) sale of EE. At 0811 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 1,293.27 points. The benchmark index has tumbled around 8 percent in the past six sessions, as the relentless drop in oil prices hurt energy shares and fuelled fears of deflation in the euro zone.