Frankfurt, Paris and Milan fell over two per cent after the US high-tech Nasdaq market posted losses of nearly four percent on Wednesday, its third straight losing session. In currencies, the yen traded a little below the previous session's record highs against the euro as fear of Bank of Japan yen-selling intervention tempered enthusiasm about the Japanese economy. European government bond yields were steady with investors finding little to provide direction ahead of Thursday's meeting of the European Central Bank's rate-setting council.