PARIS: The eurozone’s main stock markets traded lower in early business Monday as analysts pondered the implications of a key speech by Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen on interest rates.
On Friday, Yellen suggested interest rates could rise in the near-term.
In words carefully scrutinised by market watchers, Yellen said recent months had seen conditions in the US economy increasingly favour an rise in interest rates but she did not give a clear signal of timing.
“Markets are finding it difficult to interpret remarks by Janet Yellen and other Fed members on the future of interest rates,” economists at Saxo Banque said in a note.
By 0745 GMT, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was down 0.6 percent at 10,523.51 while the Paris CAC 40 showed a loss of 0.8 percent at 4,407.84.
Europe’s biggest stock market, in London, was shut Monday for a bank holiday.
