European stock markets steady at open

LONDON: Europe's main stock markets steadied at the start of trading on Friday following sharp losses the previous session.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index opened with a loss of 0.1 percent at 7,342.26 points.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.1 percent to 12,424.50 points and the CAC 40 in Paris edged up 0.1 percent to 5,157.59 points compared with the closing levels on Thursday.

Frankfurt and Paris had closed down almost two percent Thursday on concerns that central banks are preparing to scale back stimulus measures, such as record-low interest rates, in reaction to solid economic growth and high inflation.