European shares fall

European shares fell on Monday with investors booking recent lofty gains as the European Central Bank begins its programme of bond purchases, aimed at boosting inflation and growth, Reuters reported.
The market has strongly rallied since the start of the year, with the FTSEurofirst 300 surging 14 percent in the run-up to the start of the ECB's quantitative easing programme, under which it will buy 60 billion euros a month of bonds.
At 1000 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.7 percent at 1,560.43 points, slipping from a seven-year high hit last week.