* FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.1 pct after 4-day winning streak

* HSBC rises, Barclays sinks after both banks post updates

* Volkswagen's preferred stock tumbles on placing news

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]

By Blaise Robinson

PARIS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - European stocks were slightly lower around midday on Tuesday, pausing after a four-session winning run, as telecom shares dipped after disappointing Vodafone (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) results and miners fell along with metal prices.

But the drop was limited by strong gains in HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) after the UK's biggest lender posted a reassuring update.

Preferred shares in Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) plummeted nearly 14 percent and ordinary shares (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 2.8 percent after Qatar Holding LLC (QH) said it plans to sell up to 25 million preference shares in Volkswagen, worth about 1.8 billion euros.