European shares fell on Monday on concerns that accelerated vaccine rollouts and aggressive fiscal stimulus will spur a faster economic revival and stoke inflation.<\/p>\n
The dollar slid to multi-year lows against sterling and rival currencies, while benchmark U.S. Treasury yields hit a near one-year high as the reflation trade emerged as a key theme. <\/p>\n
The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 1.2 percent to 410.12 after gaining half a percent on Friday. <\/p>\n
The German DAX dripped 1.1 percent. German business<\/span> confidence strengthened in February, survey results from ifo Institute showed earlier today. <\/p>\n The business confidence index rose to 92.4 from 90.3 in the previous month. This was better than the economists’ forecast of 90.5.<\/p>\n France’s CAC 40 index was down about 1 percent. The country is to increase self-isolation times for Covid-positive cases from seven to 10 days due to uncertainty over the new variants, the health<\/span> minister announced over the weekend. <\/p>\n The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.6 percent as investors await a roadmap out of lockdown set to be announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a speech to Parliament later today.<\/p>\n In corporate news, Continental AG shares edged up slightly. The German automotive parts maker suspended annual dividend after reporting a net loss for 2020.<\/p>\n French car parts maker Faurecia gave up 2.4 percent. The company said it is targeting sales close to 25 billion euros ($30.29 billion) and an operating margin above 8 percent of sales by 2025.<\/p>\n Miners were broadly higher, with Glencore rising nearly 1 percent after copper prices climbed as much as 4 percent. <\/p>\n All eyes will be on European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde’s speech on stability, economic co-ordination and governance in the EU later in the day.<\/p>\n