European shares fell slightly on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.2 percent by 0855 GMT following three straight days of losses. Euro zone blue chips declined 0.5 percent, while Britain's FTSE dropped 0.4 percent as it reopened following a long weekend. Euro zone banks fell 2 percent to its lowest level in nearly two weeks after Deutsche Bank strategists downgraded regional banking stocks' rating by one notch to "underweight". Italian banking shares, hit in the past two sessions by worries over early elections, were among the losers again on Tuesday with UniCredit down 0.9 percent. Among other euro zone bank heavyweights, Deutsche Bank fell 1.6 percent and Spain's Caixabank dropped 1.4 percent. Barclays said it still expected Italy to hold elections next year, even though chances of a snap vote had risen substantially, with non-negligible risks that anti-establishment parties could win. lsewhere among airlines, Ryanair edged up 0.3 percent after Europe's biggest carrier by passengers reported a record annual profit that was in line with market expectations.
