LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - European shares ended flat on Monday, with banks among the top fallers, as investors traded cautiously ahead of the outcome of a euro zone finance ministers meeting aimed at discussing changes to the bloc's rescue fund.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares provisionally closed flat at 1,156.59 points.
Financials were lower, with the STOXX Europe 600 banking index down 0.6 percent, though losses were offset by strength in defensive pharmaceutical stocks, including Smith & Nephew which rose 3.9 percent on reports of a takeover approach by Johnson & Johnson.
Euro zone finance ministers are set to discuss changes to the effective lending capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), though no final decision was expected, with Germany seeing no need for bolstering the fund's size.
"It would be good for the euro zone as a whole if they (the ministers) can calm some of the nerves, but by what actions? We will have to live with discussions about the debt problems for months and quarters to come," said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, equity markets strategist at Deutsche Postbank in Bonn. (Reporting by Harpreet Bhal)