By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stocks across Europe fell on Thursday,
following other global markets down on the prospect that a U.S.
interest-rate increase may arrive sooner than anticipated.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4% to 326.39, with oil
securities pacing the pullback. BP PLC (BP) gave up 1.6% and Total
SA (TOT) eased 0.6%.
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said Wednesday that rate
hikes could happen after "about six months" from the time the
central bank finishes winding down bond purchases. Her comment came
as she answered questions in her first news conference as head of
the Fed.
For European equities, "risk-off is the name of the game today,"
as traders were "nervous" after Yellen's "hawkish comments," said
Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, in emailed
comments
"It appears that her dashboard might be giving her green signals
and making her confident that the bank perhaps could increase the
short-term interest rate in a year's time," he said.
After Yellen spoke, traders in federal funds futures on Tuesday
moved up their bets on rate hikes by two meetings, to April
2015.
Stocks in Asia fell overnight, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average
settling 1.7% lower. On Thursday, U.S. stocks opened lower but
managed to reverse course after data showed manufacturing in the
Philadelphia area rebounded in March from February.
Among European indexes, Germany's DAX 30 index was down 0.3% at
9,253.38, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index declined 0.6% to 6,535.35.
But France's CAC 40 index turned fractionally higher to
4,309.31.
Among individual issues, GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) fell 1.5% in
London trade after the company said a treatment for patients with
non-small-cell lung cancer didn't meet its goals in a late-stage
clinical trial.
Meanwhile, betting firms extended declines from Wednesday when
the U.K. government said it would raise taxes on betting terminals.
Ladbrokes PLC shed 5% and William Hill PLC fell 2.5%.
In Frankfurt, stock in Deutsche Boerse AG fell 0.5% after J.P.
Morgan Cazenove cut the company to underweight from neutral.
But Siemens AG gained 1.3% following reports that the industrial
conglomerate may restructure operations.
More news from MarketWatch
China's yuan falls into the danger zone
How to play the rising cost of commodities
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires