Europe's markets for initial public offerings are turning wintry. While US peers have enjoyed a solid start to 2011, Europe has raised just $3.7bn through IPOs year to date, below the $4.9bn raised over the same period last year, according to Dealogic. Last week's postponement of the IPOs of Danish cleaning firm ISS and French media group Canal Plus suggests investors might be becoming more selective than bankers care to admit.

True, volatility sparked by Japan's earthquake and the Middle East turmoil is unwelcome. But major European markets shed just 2%-3% last week.