European shares fell on Monday as European Central banks began its bond buying programme as a part of their €1.1 trillion stimulus plan.
Market experts said, the financial market has been performing strongly since the beginning of the year. According to market data, FTSEurofirst 300 has risen over 14 percent just before ECB began its quantitative easing program. ECB previously stated that, they will buy €60 billion of bonds every month.
In a statement Saxo Bank trader Pierre Martin said, “It’s ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’. European stocks have jumped 15 percent since the start of the year and the positive impact from QE has broadly been priced in by now”. He later added, “Investors’ expectations are now higher, and with sluggish German exports data this morning and doubts over when the Fed will start raising rates, people are tempted to just book profits”.
Market data from Germany also showed that, their exports data in January had fallen the biggest since August. Market experts said, it had fallen farther than it was expected and the economists are worried about the outlook of the biggest economy of Europe.
According to the market data, FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.3 percent at 1,566.10 points. But the biggest loser in Europe was the Greek market. Bank of Piraeus fell 7.8 percent and National Bank of Greece fell 8.7 percent. Euro Zone Finance ministers are also scheduled to meet with their Greek counterpart to discuss their reform policies. It was also reported that, the Bank of France has cut its growth forecast for the first quarter for the French economy to 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent.
According to the market data from the European property groups, Unibail was down 2.4 percent and Klepierre 2.2 percent. Shares in French utility EDF also fell 3.5 percent. In other market news, Swiss cement group Holcim rose 1.1 percent and French peer Lafarge slid 1.5 percent.