The German market is in negative territory on Friday, after the country's business confidence deteriorated more than expected. The Asian markets fell on growth fears, following weak data from the U.S. overnight.
Sentiment was also impacted by the action of Moody's Investors Service, which downgraded the credit ratings of 15 major banks, including Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, UBS and HSBC.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is losing 0.34 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is falling 0.33 percent.
After opening lower, the DAX index is retreating 0.81 percent.
HeidelbergCement is losing 3 percent and Infineon Technologies is dropping 2.5 percent.
Basf and Bayer are declining 2.3 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a complete response letter regarding a supplemental New Drug Application for blood thinner Xarelto, developed jointly by Bayer and U.S.-based Johnson & Johnson.
Volkswagen and BMW are in negative territory, while Daimler is up 0.3 percent.
Gigaset is down 1.1 percent after Deutsche Bank initiated the stock with a "Hold" rating.
Deutsche Bank is up 0.1 percent and Commerzbank is gaining 0.4 percent.
Deutsche Telekom is advancing 3 percent. Airline Lufthansa is gaining 1 percent.
Equinet raised Fraport to "Buy" from "Accumulate." The stock is gaining 1 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, the French CAC 40 is losing 0.67 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 is falling 0.91 percent. Switzerland's SMI is sliding 0.27 percent.
In economic news, Germany's business sentiment weakened more than expected in June, reports said citing the latest survey results from Ifo Institute. The business confidence index fell to 105.3 from 106.9 a month ago. Economists were expecting the index to fall to 105.6.
Across Asia/Pacific, markets ended firmly in the red. Australia's All Ordinaries lost around 1 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 1.4 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.3 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, stocks moved sharply lower as a batch of disappointing U.S. economic data inspired traders to cash in on the gains seen over the past two weeks. The Dow plunged 2 percent, the Nasdaq tumbled 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 declined 2.2 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for August delivery is adding $0.58 to $78.78 per barrel and August gold is gaining $5.3 to $1570.8 a troy ounce.
by RTT Staff Writer
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