By Simon Kennedy
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares dropped sharply in early trading Tuesday following losses for Asian markets. Banks and miners were among the heaviest fallers, though all sectors were trading in the red. Shares in Punch Taverns (UK:PUB 89.95, 0.00, 0.00%) dropped 5.5% after the pub operator reported its fiscal-year results. Among the few shares trading in the green, German supermarket operator Metro (DE:MEO 47.01, 0.00, 0.00%) rose 0.5% after it was assigned an overweight rating by J.P. Morgan as part of a positive assessment of the sector. The U.K. FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,672, +14.79, +0.26%) dropped 0.8% to 5,626.96, the French CAC 40 index (FR:PX1 3,768, +5.31, +0.14%) fell 1.2% to 3,726.18 and the German DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 6,310, +17.84, +0.28%) fell 0.8% to 6,255.54.
