European shares fall further after US retail sales

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - European shares fell further on Wednesday afternoon, with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 down 2.7 percent, after U.S. December retail sales came in weaker-than-expected.

The U.S. Commerce Department said total retail sales fell 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted $343.2 billion last month following a revised 2.1 percent drop in November.

December's drop was the biggest since October last year when sales fell 3.4 percent.

Banks were the main drag on the FTSEurofirst 300 index, with HSBC (HSBA.L) down 9.9 percent, Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) off 10 percent and Barclays (BARC.L) losing 13.4 percent. (Reporting by Dominic Lau)