The French market moved into positive territory in afternoon trading Wednesday, even as Greece continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Concerns surrounding the debt-ridden nation crushed Asian stocks as well.
Impasse continued in Greece, where political parties could not agree on forming a coalition. A fresh election date may be announced shortly for the country, thus triggering doubts on its international aid as well as exit from the euro currency bloc.
Greece's Central bank chief George Provopoulos has reportedly told President Karolos Papoulias that people withdrew as much as 700 million euros amid the uncertainty, and banks fear about their survival.
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde said the spillover effects and the chain of consequences that could result from a Greek exit from the eurozone could be quite messy.
Meanwhile, European Union finance ministers reached an agreement over stricter new banking rules to avoid future crises and relieve taxpayers from the need to bailout banks.
In a statement, the Council of the European Union said the ministers unanimously agreed a general approach on two proposals - the so called "CRD 4" package, amending the EU's rules on capital requirements for banks and investment firms.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.11 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. Companies, is losing 0.48 percent.
The CAC 40 index opened weak and later drifted into positive territory. The index is currently adding 0.55 percent.
GDF Suez is declining 2.5 percent and Arcelor Mittal is falling 2 percent.
Vinci is losing 1.9 percent while Bouygues is gaining 0.6 percent.
Renault and Peugeot are declining 1.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Eiffage is declining 6.6 percent.
Credit Agricole is gaining 3 percent and Societe Generale is adding 1.6 percent. BNP Paribas is down 0.1 percent.
LVMH is up 1.3 percent. Merrill Lynch raised the stock to "Buy" from "Neutral."
Morgan Stanley raised Total to "Equalweight" from "Underweight."
EADS is up 0.9 percent. The company lifted its full year earnings outlook, as the Airbus maker reported a first-quarter profit, despite strained defence markets in the Western world.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is falling 0.65 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 is falling 0.79 percent. Switzerland's SMI is up 0.11 percent.
In economic news, the U.K. economic growth is set to remain subdued, while inflation is judged to be somewhat higher than expected three months ago, the Bank of England said in its quarterly Inflation Report.
The BoE said prospects for U.K. growth remain unusually uncertain. Governor Mervyn King said the economy will continue to face headwinds during the forecast period.
Across Asia/Pacific, Australia's All Ordinaries retreated 2.4 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 3.2 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.1 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a slightly higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, worries about Greece weighed on the markets once again. The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, stuck firmly in negative territory. The Dow fell 0.5 percent, the Nasdaq slipped 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 dropped 0.6 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for June delivery is losing $1.55 at $92.43 per barrel and June gold is falling $21.9 to $1535.2 a troy ounce.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.