ROME: Europe’s main stock markets have opened lower as London investors paused after striking a record peak the previous day.
In initial deals on Thursday, the London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading companies slid 0.16 per cent to 7,085.08 points.
Elsewhere, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.14 per cent to 5,246.75 points and Frankfurt’s DAX 30 shed 0.09 per cent to 12,224.76 compared with Wednesday’s close.
The region’s equities had rebounded on Wednesday as weak Chinese economic growth data stoked Beijing stimulus hopes while the European Central Bank pledged to fully implement its stimulus measures.
Meanwhile, on the debt markets, the yield on benchmark 10-year German bonds fell below the 0.1 per cent level for the first time as the ECB’s massive €1.1-trillion ($A1.56 trillion) sovereign bond purchase scheme unfolds.
The rate of return to investors fell to as low as 0.098 per cent, from 0.107 at the close of trading on Wednesday.
The yield on shorter-term German bonds, as well as those of several other eurozone countries, has fallen into negative territory, meaning investors are in effect paying governments to hold their money.
