European stocks pare losses as banks rebound

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - European stocks pared some of the losses seen earlier in the session on Thursday as banks rebounded, with HBOS (HBOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) up 2.8 percent and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) rising 2.6 percent.

By 0930 GMT the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.6 percent at 1,161.26 points after falling as much 1.6 percent earlier in the session.

Traders noted that banks were due for a recovery following losses of more than 17 percent during the past month on the DJStoxx 600 European banks .

Fortis (FOR.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 1.4 percent and Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) advanced 2.7 percent. Steelmakers, however, fell amid speculation that the price of steel was nearing a peak, analysts said. SSAB (SSABa.ST: Quote, Profile, Research) shed 8.3 percent and ThyssenKrupp (TKAG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) lost 2.8 percent (Reporting by Patrizia Kokot)