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At 08:18 BST the FTSEurofirst 300 had dipped 0.9 per cent to 1,014.59 points, Reuters reports, meaning the pan-European index has now dropped for three consecutive sessions.
Banco Santander, Barclays and Societe Generale lost as much as 2.3 per cent as concerns mounted that Greece's debt problems will spread to other European countries.
However, there were gains of 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent for BNP Paribas and Commerzbank respectively after both firms exceeded analyst forecasts with their first-quarter results.
Investment strategist for NCB Stockbrokers Bernard McAlinden, said the "ongoing debt crisis" is hampering stock market trading, despite strong economic data and company results.
A similar trend was seen in London, where the FTSE 100 was down 0.65 per cent to 5,307.29 points at 08:37 BST.
Posted by Greg Secker
