Europe stocks opened lower

Europe stocks opened lower after yesterday's rapid increase as investors await the meeting of the EU finance ministers aimed at easing the debt crisis. Report of Standard & Poor's plan to downgrade France's credit rating also contributed to the share price decline. The Stoxx Europe 600 index decreased by 0.3% to 229.23, the French CAC 40 index lost 0.5% to 2,997.94, the German DAX 30 index edged down 0.4% to 5,722.73 and the FTSE 100 index declined by 0.2% to 5,300.92.