Paris  - French shares were little changed in early trading on Tuesday following a roller-coaster ride as the mood among investors remained nervous.

The Paris Bourse's CAC 40 index was up 0.07 per cent, at 3,069.36, at mid-morning, with advancing issues outpacing losers by nearly 2 to 1.

Bouyed by strong showings on Asian markets, the index rose more than 3 per cent shortly after the session opened, but then fell into the red after a report showing that the financial crisis was now affecting the French housing market.

According to the Ministry of the Environment, building permits for the third quarter fell by more than 23 per cent over the same period in 2007, while housing-construction starts had fallen by more than 8 per cent.

Winners were led by European aerospace group EADS, which was up nearly 10 per cent, to 11.63 euros, because it stands to benefit from the continuing slide of the euro against the dollar.

Financial shares again led the declining issues, with insurance giant Axa down 6.4 per cent, to 12.22 euros, and the banks BNP Paribas, Credit Acricole and Societe Generale all off by between 3.5 and 6.2 per cent. (dpa)