LONDON: Europe's main stock markets fell at the start of trading on Wednesday, as eurozone finance chiefs struggled to boost the financial firepower of a bailout fund for the debt-plagued bloc.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 0.90 percent to 5,288.99 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 recoiled 1.0 percent to 5,741.21 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 1.14 percent to 2,992.14.
On Tuesday, Italy encountered serious strains at a bond auction which resulted in an inversion of the curve of interest rates demanded to finance Italian public finances, with the rate for thee-year money being higher than the rate for 10 years.
Adding to the negative newsflow, Standard & Poor's downgraded its ratings on 15 global banks overnight, as part of an expected change in how it forms its opinions on financial institutions.
Meanwhile in Britain on Wednesday, more than two million public sector workers are holding the biggest strike in decades to protest at government's plans to change their pensions.
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