The European markets are moderately to notably lower in afternoon trading Thursday, as downgrading of Greek bond ratings by Moody's Investors Service unnerved global markets, amid fears of moderation in growth.
Moody's Investors Service Wednesday downgraded Greece's local and foreign currency bond ratings deeper into junk status, citing heightened risk that the country will fail to stabilize its debt position without a debt restructuring.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chippers is declining 0.75 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is dropping 0.82 percent.
The German DAX is declining 1.02 percent and the French CAC 40 is losing 1.12 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 is dropping 0.73 percent. The Swiss market is closed for the Ascension Day holiday.
Among the DAX components, chemicals firm Linde is losing 1.58 percent. Basf is down 1.35 percent and Bayer is slipping 0.8 percent.
Airline Lufthansa is declining 1.5 percent. Sports goods giant Adidas is down 1.1 percent.
Automakers Volkswagen and Daimler are notably lower. BMW is losing 0.8 percent. Goldman Sachs raised its price target on BMW to 120 euros from 107 euros.
Technology firms Infineon Technologies and SAP are falling 1.5 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
Deutsche Bank is down 0.7 percent, while Commerzbank is adding 1.75 percent.
Lender Natixis is plunging about 6 percent in Paris. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are declining 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. Societe Generale is flat.
Peugeot and Renault are declining 4.5 percent and 1.8 percent, in that order.
France Telecom is falling 0.7 percent. Goldman Sachs lowered its price target on the stock to 14 euros from 14.10 euros.
Builders Bouygues and Vinci are losing 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
In London, specialty chemicals firm Johnson Matthey is falling 2.7 percent. The company reported a higher profit for the year, as revenues increased 27 percent, and lifted its full-year dividend 18 percent.
Miners Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and BHP Billiton are losing between 2.7 percent and 2.2 percent.
Retailer Kingfisher is losing 2.4 percent after projecting a tough year for retailers.
Lloyds Banking Group is dropping 1.15 percent and Standard Chartered is falling 0.6 percent.
Serco Group is adding 2.9 percent.
Outside the main index, WS Atkins is down 1.2 percent. The company announced the retirement of its Chief Executive Officer and Director Keith Clarke and named Uwe Krueger as Clarke's successor.
ASOS is declining 10.2 percent in London after reporting a fall in reported profit for the year.
Nokia is down 3.8 percent in Helsinki. Citigroup reduced its price target on the handset maker to 4.10 euros from 5.60 euros.
In economic news, British construction sector activity showed a solid expansion in May, data from Markit Economics showed. The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 54 from 53.3 in April. The expected reading for May was 53.5.
Across Asia/Pacific, most major markets ended firmly in the red. Australia's All Ordinaries lost 2.20 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.40 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 1.58 percent and 1.69 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a slightly higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow plunged 2.2 percent, the Nasdaq dropped 2.3 percent and the S&P 500 plummeted 2.3 percent.
In the commodity space, crude is adding $0.10 to $100.39 per barrel and gold is rising $0.50 to $1543.70 a troy ounce.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.