Euro Shares Close Lower as US Plan Disappoints

European shares closed loser on Tuesday after investors were disappointed with a U.S. Treasury Department plan to help the financial sector, with banks and oils the biggest losers in Europe.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares unofficially ended down 2.4 percent at 810.34 points.

The US Treasury Department unveiled a revamped financial rescue plan to cleanse up to $500 billion in spoiled assets from banks' books and support $1 trillion in new lending through an expanded Federal Reserve program.

"The market has been looking forward for a long time on clear and definite steps from policy makers on how to clean up these toxic assets. The statement does not give much away and has now dissapointed as markets were waiting for the detail," said Mike Lenhoff, strategist at Brewin Dolphin.

"It was looking for positive guidance and, if it does not find it, it is going to turn the thumbs down instead of up," Lenhoff said.

The banking sector was one of the main drags on the index. HSBC, Standard Chartered, Societe Generale were down 3.2-6.7 percent.

Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 2.2 percent, Germany's DAX was down 3.5 percent and France's CAC 40 was down 3.6 percent.

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