European share indexes closed about half a percent lower on Wednesday, pressured by rising U.S. bond yields which hit high-yielding utility stocks such as Germany's RWE and E.ON. Britain's Scottish Power and United Utilities lost one percent each. Shares in Credit Agricole lost 4.3 percent after the French bank reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed forecasts due to higher than expected costs and charges tied to its merger with Credit Lyonnais. The FTSEurofirst pan-European 300 index ended 0.59 percent weaker at 1,094.1 points. The index which rose 0.3 percent earlier in the session, ended near a one-week low. "Today was a big move (in utilities) but it is continuing a trend that has been running for a couple of weeks," said Mark Tinker, head of strategy at brokers Execution. "The only reason (equities following bonds) for that to make sense is if there is any contagion from the bond market. Other than that there is no justification for that." U.S. Treasury debt prices dived, taking benchmark yields to seven-month highs, as technical selling swept the market just hours before the U.S. government auctions $15 billion in new debt. U.S. blue chips also fell but later trimmed losses after government data showed U.S. oil inventories jumped, easing worries about high energy prices.
