European shares eased yesterday following a lacklustre performance on Wall Street and as oil edged up towards $ 66 a barrel, stoking margin pressure fears. French information technology services company Atos Origin rose 2.5 percent after German paper Handelsblatt reported Deutsche Telekom’s IT unit, T-Systems, is examining a takeover of the firm. The pan-European FTSEurofirst index of 300 blue chips was 0.4 percent weaker at 1,189.7 points, below a three-year high of 1,199.9 points struck this month, with oil and gas leading the losers and Total down 1 percent.

U.S. crude oil prices rose to near $ 66 a barrel on worries over persistent global supply disruptions. Fund managers said though corporate earnings were coming ahead of market expectations, high oil prices remained a worry.

“At some time, it must hit the margins. I suppose it’s just indicative of strong global demand which is allowing particularly industrial companies to pass it on in higher prices”, said Andrea Williams, head of European equities at Royal London Asset Management. The narrower DJ Eurostoxx index fell 0.4 points to 3,315.7 points.

Among the European companies reporting results are Denmark’s second-largest insurer, Topdanmark and the Nordic region’s third-largest bank by value, Handelsbanken.

On the economic front, the ZEW Centre for European Economic Research releases its indicator of economic sentiment for August. The data is expected to underscore a modest improvement in consumer sentiment in the euro zone’s biggest economy.

Shares in ASF, APRR and Sanef gained on news the privatization of three French motorway operators sparked widespread bid interest, with the French government saying the possible 13 billion euro sale had attracted offers from 18 parties.

<B>Anshuman DAGA</B>