LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) - European shares lost ground on Thursday as a pick-up in bond yields weighed on utility stocks, whose large levels of debt make them particularly sensitive to credit market jitters.
German 10-year Bund yields rose to 2015 highs on Thursday, extending a rise that had begun on Wednesday after Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, said the ECB saw no reason to adjust its monetary policy stance despite recent volatility in the credit market. ID:nL5N0YP1S7
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 fell 0.6 percent, while Germany's DAX .GDAXI weakened by 0.5 percent.
Utility stocks were among the worst performers on the FTSEurofirst. Spain's Gas Natural GAS.MC fell 1.7 percent while rival Red Electrica REE.MC declined by 1.6 percent, with Red Electrica also impacted by a downgrade from UBS.
However, Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta SYNN.VX outperformed to rise 1.8 percent after Reuters reported that German company BASF BASFn.DE was considering a bid for Syngenta. ID:nL1N0YP1J6