Europe: Shares open lower before ECB meeting

[MILAN] European shares fell on Thursday in cautious trade after the US Fed sounded slightly hawkish overnight and ahead of an ECB meeting in which the central bank will debate the end of its huge asset purchases.

All sectors traded in negative territory with basic resources stocks, down 1.3 per cent, leading the fall following weaker data from big metals consumer China.

By 0715 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.6 per cent, while Britain's FTSE was down 0.6 per cent and Germany's DAX fell 0.5 per cent.

The European Central Bank will debate whether to end its huge asset purchases by year-end, in what would be its biggest step towards dismantling crisis-era stimulus credited with pulling the euro zone economy out of recession.

REUTERS