ROME: European stocks ended a volatile session sharply lower on Wednesday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen sounded alarm bells over the current high prices of stocks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.60% closed 0.6% lower at 388.68, ending at the lowest level since early March.
Stocks had been darting in and out of positive territory throughout the session, but the pan-European benchmark started to descend in the afternoon after Fed boss Yellen said stock valuations are “quite high”.
Some country indexes held to gains, however, following data showing modest overall economic growth in the eurozone in April.
Germany’s DAX 30 DAX, +0.20% DAX, +0.20% closed 0.2% higher at 11,350.15, while France’s CAC 40 PX1, +0.15% ended up 0.2% at 4,981.59. The FTSE 100 UKX, +0.09% rose 0.1%, at 6,933.74.
In Athens, the Athex Composite GD, +2.86% picked up 2.9% to 816.94. On Wednesday, Greece said it made a scheduled payment of 200 million euros ($224.9 million) to the International Monetary Fund. But fears persist that the country will run out of cash unless it reaches a deal with creditors on its bailout.
The recent bond yields across Europe have spiked higher, and as the euro has been regaining ground it lost this year against the U.S. dollar. The yield on the widely watched 10-year German bund TMBMKDE-10Y, +12.83% was up 7 basis points at 0.59% on Wednesday. The yield just two weeks ago was at an all-time low of 0.05%.
