Europe: Marts steady

LONDON: Markets steadied yesterday as the immediate fallout from the inconclusive Italian elections faded and investors breathed a sigh of relief that the US Federal Reserve does not appear to be changing its cheap money policy any time soon.

Stocks around the world took a battering as the Italian election results failed to deliver a knockout victory for any one party, or group of parties.

Italy's FTSE MIB was the worst-hit index, ending the day five per cent lower. The FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.1 per cent at 1,151.18 by 1204 GMT. FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.1 per cent at 6,279 while Germany's DAX rose the same rate to 7,606. The CAC-40 in France was 0.4 per cent higher at 3,637. Agencies