European stocks fell on Thursday as a drop in airline Lufthansa and property group Immofinanz took the shine off an update from the U.S. Federal Reserve that boosted commodity share prices, Reuters reported. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index and the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index both fell 0.5 percent. The Fed held interest rates steady on Wednesday and indicated that moderate U.S. economic growth and "strong job gains" would allow it to tighten policy this year, with fresh projections showing that policymakers expected two quarter-point hikes by the year's end, half the number seen in December. The Fed's update weakened the U.S. dollar on currency markets, while it also boosted the euro. However, the euro's gains weighed on European stocks, since a stronger euro can make it harder for European companies to sell their goods overseas. "Stocks are moving lower on the back of the euro's advance. We're just consolidating some of the gains made over the last month," said Clairinvest fund manager Ion-Marc Valahu, pointing to a rise of around 10 percent on the FTSEurofirst over the last month. Lufthansa fell 5.6 percent after the airline reined in its profit expectations, while Immofinanz slumped 9 percent after reporting a loss.
