A bumper takeover in the telecoms sector helped European shares bounce on Monday after three days of losses, although concern over the impact of stimulus withdrawal in the United States and the health of China's banks weighed.
_0">Vodafone struck its biggest deal since 2007 after it agreed to buy Germany's largest cable operator Kabel Deutschland for 7.7 billion euros, a deal which Kabel said it intended to recommend to share holders.
Kabel's shares rose 2 percent, while heavyweight Vodafone was up 0.6 percent higher.
By 0706 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 was flat at 1.39 points at 1,132.85, having spiraled down from the year's high of 1,132.73 on May 23 exacerbated by concerns over U.S. stimulus and China's banking system.
"The widespread complacency about the adjustment to the tapering environment, which suggested that equities would remain immune to the winding down of central bank support, must now have been dispelled," Ian Williams, equity strategist at Peel Hunt, said.
"The transition towards a more growth-driven phase of market performance is likely to remain bumpy through the summer as the long awaited improvement in corporate earnings has been slow to emerge."