European shares fell early on Friday, extending a decline into a fourth session, as regional leaders agreed to work towards a new "fiscal compact" but made little firm progress in their efforts to stem the euro zone debt crisis at a crucial summit, according to Reuters. At 0706 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.6 percent at 967.49 points, following a strong run-up last week on hopes the summit would find solutions. EU leaders agreed stricter budget rules for the euro zone on Friday, but failed to secure changes to the EU treaty among all 27 member states, meaning a deal will instead have to involve just euro zone states and any others that want to join. "It doesn't actually take us much further. I'm not sure we've made much progress in terms of the underlying issues," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management. "If you've made some profit on equities, it may be time to realise that profit." The STOXX Europe 600 Banking Index fell 0.9 percent after Europe's banking watchdog said Europe's banks must find 114.7 billion euros of extra capital, more than predicted two months ago, to make them strong enough to withstand the euro zone debt crisis and restore investor confidence.
