Europe: Shares fall early after bullish Fed

[PARIS] European stocks fell in early trading on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve took an upbeat view on the US economy and signalled that it remains firmly on track to raise interest rates this year.

Vallourec featured among the top losers, down 6.5 per cent, after the steel pipes maker warned of an impairment charge of 1.0-1.2 billion euros on the value of its assets, blaming turmoil in the oil market.

At 0802 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.5 per cent at 1,467.16 points.

REUTERS