Europe shares slip from 2-year high on debt fears

LONDON Nov 10 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Wednesday from two-year highs hit a day earlier, with concerns about the euro zone debt problems resurfacing and a sharp drop in Natixis (CNAT.PA) after missing profit forecasts dragging down banks.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares provisionally ended 0.7 percent lower at 1,109.54 points after falling to a low of 1,105.87 earlier in the session. "Over the recent days and weeks, equity markets have partially ignored the rising tensions within the euro zone and today the focus is more on this after one of the clearing companies increased the margin requirements for Irish bonds," said Tammo Greetfeld, equity strategist at UniCredit.

LCH.Clearnet, which clears Irish government bonds on behalf of its investment bank clients, said on Tuesday it will increase the margin required to trade Irish sovereign debt by 15 percent as of Thursday, highlighting nervousness about the country. Banks featured among the top losers, with the STOXX Europe 600 banking index .SX7P falling 1.8 percent. Natixis fell 11.9 percent, while Societe Generale (SOGN.PA), Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) and UniCredit (CRDI.MI) dropped 3.4 to 5.1 percent.

"Aside from the Ireland contagion worries, the reports of a big Brazilian bank in difficulty are weighing on the system," a Milan trader said. (Additional reporting by Stephen Jewkes in Milan) (Reporting by Atul Prakash)