European shares steady helped by earning updates, bank gains

(ADVISORY- Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development. See the bottom of the report for more details)

* FTSEurofirst 300 index little changed

* Cheaper oil pulls down market

* Accor (EUREX: 485822.EX - news) , ARM gain after results, but ASML falls

* Volkswagen (LSE: 0P6N.L - news) leads FTSEurofirst gainers

By Danilo Masoni and Atul Prakash

MILAN/LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - European shares steadied around three-month highs on Wednesday as a fall in crude oil prices was offset by some solid earning updates and gains among banking stocks.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.07 percent by 1404 GMT after rising 1.5 percent the day before, when it reached its highest since early January.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday after Kuwaiti oil workers ended a three-day strike that had cut the nation's crude output by around half. Sharp losses on Chinese markets also led to some profit-taking after the recent gains.

"There is probably room for a short-term correction ... following the lead from losses in China and in oil prices," said Alessandro Balsotti, portfolio manager at JCI Capital in London.

But some solid updates, including those of Europe's largest hotel group Accor, helped offset the falls.

Accor rose 3.8 percent after the company posted higher underlying sales late on Tuesday, as robust demand for hotel rooms in most markets overcame a weaker performance in France and in recession-hit Brazil.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in several companies reacted sharply on Wednesday after their announcing quarterly results. About 4 percent of the companies in the STOXX Europe 600 index have reported earnings, of which 60 percent have met or beaten analyst forecasts, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine.

Chip maker ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) , power grids maker ABB , telecoms operator Telia rose following earning updates. .

But ASML fell 2.6 percent after figures on new orders came in weaker than expected.

Banks rose 2 percent, leading the sectoral gainers. Shares in Deutsche Bank (LSE: 0H7D.L - news) , UniCredit (EUREX: DE000A163206.EX - news) and Santander all rose by 3.2 and 4.3 percent.

Volkswagen rose more than 7 percent, leading the gains on the FTSEurofirst, on optimism it can offer U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . authorities an acceptable resolution of its emissions-test-rigging case.

Today's European research round-up

ADVISORY- Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon (see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development). In a real-time, multimedia format from 0600 London time through the 1630 closing bell, it will include the best of our market reporting, Stocks Buzz service, Eikon graphics, Reuters pictures, eye-catching research and market zeitgeist. Breaking news and dramatic market moves will continue to be alerted to all clients and we will continue to provide a short opening story and comprehensive closing reports.

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Mike Dolan, Markets Editor EMEA. (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)