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March 4 (Reuters) - European stocks fell on Thursday after
three straight sessions of gains as a jump in U.S. bond yields
knocked risk appetite globally, with heavyweight miners and
travel stocks leading the retreat.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX fell 0.5% in early
trading, with miners .SXPP dropping 2.8% and travel & leisure
stocks .SXTP down 1.6%.
UK-listed shares of Rio Tinto RIO.L and BHP Group BHPB.L
shed 5.2% and 4.3% respectively, after their Australia-listed
stocks were hit by ex-dividend trading. German airline Lufthansa LHAG.DE dropped almost 2% after
it posted record losses for 2020 and trimmed its 2021 capacity
plans as COVID-19 disruption drags on. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield US10YT=RR , the benchmark
for global borrowing costs, rose past 1.45% on Wednesday as
investors anticipated a rise in inflation with governments
continuing to pump money into the global economy and as
vaccination programmes progress.
Investors are waiting to see if Federal Reserve Chairman
Jerome Powell will address concerns about the risk of a rapid
rise in long-term borrowing costs later in the day.