LONDON (ShareCast) - European shares are largely flat in calm morning trade, with banks standing out as the worst performers.

UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, and France’s BNP Paribas are among the main fallers.

In company news, Veolia was lower after it said that high oil prices and the currency impact means its net income growth objective "could be difficult to achieve in 2008."

Wavin dropped after it warned first-half EBITDA margin will be lower than last year. Petercam cut its stance on the Dutch building materials group to 'sell' from 'reduce'.

The German Dax is up 2 points to 6,723, the French CAC is 6 points better at 4,598, while the Swiss market dropped 9 points to 7,149.

In economic news, Dutch consumer spending increased 2.1% year-on-year in April, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

Swiss producer and import prices in March rose 1.2% from April and 3.9% from last year, the Swiss Federal Statistics Office said.

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