Stock markets start slowly in Europe, with Milan and Frankfurt down about 0.2%.

Calm seems to have returned for the moment to international markets, after the nervousness caused by doubts about the sky-high valuations of technology companies. Yesterday, Wall Street closed higher, with the Dow Jones up 0.48% and the Nasdaq up 0.65%.

Following New York's gains, Asian stocks also closed in positive territory. Tokyo gained 1.2%, Shanghai 0.97%, and Hong Kong, the tech-heavy exchange, gained 2%.

European stock markets, however, bucked the trend and opened below par. Milan and Frankfurt fell about 0.2%, Paris 0.6%, and London traded at par.

The euro is slightly up and is back above 1.15 against the dollar after having fallen to its lowest level since the beginning of August in the last two sessions.