European stocks fell on Thursday after three straight sessions of gains as a jump in US bond yields knocked risk appetite globally, with heavyweight miners and travel stocks leading the retreat.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.5% in early trading, with miners dropping 2.8% and travel & leisure stocks down 1.6%.

UK-listed shares of Rio Tinto and BHP Group shed 5.2% and 4.3% respectively, after their Australia-listed stocks were hit by ex-dividend trading.

German airline Lufthansa dropped almost 2% after it posted record losses for 2020 and trimmed its 2021 capacity plans as COVID-19 disruption drags on.

The 10-year US Treasury yield, the benchmark for global borrowing costs, rose past 1.45% on Wednesday as investors anticipated a rise in inflation with governments continuing to pump money into the global economy and as vaccination programmes progress.

Investors are waiting to see if Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will address concerns about the risk of a rapid rise in long-term borrowing costs later in the day.