European stocks pull back 13-month high on profit taking

European stocks fell in early trading on Friday, on profit-taking from the 13-month high hit yesterday, amid risk-off sentiment after Wall Street's record rally paused and the US Treasury bonds rose.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4% as of 09:08 GMT, after closing higher by 0.4% yesterday and hit the highest since February 2020 at 427.3 points after the European Medicines Agency announced that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe.

The automotive sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, falling 1.5%, due to fears over the European demand recovery.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% ahead of Wall Street opening after the index closed lower by 1.5% yesterday, and posted the biggest daily loss since February 25, after hitting its record high of 3,983.87 points.

The US stocks rally halted also due to the 10-year treasury yields jump 14-month highs, which renewed concerns over the US bond market.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.4%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.6%, Germany DAX index fell 0.3%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.3%.