ROME: European stocks finished modestly higher Thursday, but not before diving sharply lower, with uncertainty around the U.K. general election adding to an already thick mix of worries surrounding rebounds in the euro, oil prices and bond yields.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.08% ended 0.1% higher at 388.98, thanks for minor gains for the consumer-services and technology sectors. It was another choppy session for the pan-European index, which had fallen by as much as 1.8% intraday.
The index also finished the previous session lower, in part after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen warned of risks from “quite high” stock prices.
European stocks have been knocked down from record highs in recent sessions, with much of this year’s gains fueled by funding generated from the European Central Bank’s €1.1 trillion bond-buying program, aimed at boosting the inflation level in the eurozone.
The equity losses are also coming at the same time that European bond prices have begun to slide, driving yields off their all-time lows, and “in part sparked by the easing of deflation pressure, there is a taper tantrum of sorts being played out,” said analysts at BBH Brown Brothers Harriman in a Thursday note.
