European shares turned positive by midday on Tuesday after falling earlier in the session, as commodity shares recovered after crude prices cut early losses and prices of some base metals bounced back.

At 1224 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 0.1 percent at 1,024.18 points after falling to a low of 1,014.17.

Energy shares rose, with Tullow Oil (TLW.L), Repsol (REP.MC), StatoilHydro (STL.OL) and BP (BP.L) rising 0.5 to 0.9 percent.