European shares turn negative; E.ON slides

FRANKFURT, May 14 (Reuters) - European shares turned negative in early afternoon trading on Wednesday as mining group BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research) pared some gains and German utility E.ON (EONG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) fell after reporting first-quarter results.

U.S. stock index futures DJc1 SPc1 NDc1 also traded weaker.

At 1127 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.3 percent at 1,342.31 points, having risen as much as 0.7 percent earlier in the session.

Heavyweight miner BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research) was up 2 percent, having traded more than 5 percent higher earlier amid speculation that a state-controlled Chinese firm was building a stake in the company.

E.ON fell 1.7 percent, contributing to a 0.8 percent drop for the German DAX index .GDAXI. Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 0.6 percent, with banks among the top losers, and the French CAC 40 .FCHI was down 0.1 percent.

Later in the day the focus will be on U.S. inflation data at 1230 GMT for evidence of how much, if any, scope the Federal Reserve has to lower U.S. rates further. (Reporting by Peter Starck)