Most European markets are notably lower on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on the U.S. economic recovery dampened sentiment across the globe. Additionally, a World Bank report released earlier in the day revealed a muted economic performance for the global economy this year, prompting a flight into safe havens like dollar, which is exerting downward influence on commodities.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is losing 1.05 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is losing 0.93 percent.
The German DAX is dropping 1.35 percent and the French CAC 40 is falling 0.90 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 is sliding 1.08 percent and Switzerland's SMI is retreating 1.06 percent.
Among the DAX components, Commerzbank is declining 3.2 percent and Deutsche Bank is losing 2 percent. Nomura reduced its price target on Commerzbank to 3.50 euros from 4.50 euros, while ING raised its rating on the stock to "Buy" from "Hold."
Chipmaker Infineon Technologies is losing 2.2 percent and SAP is falling 1.2 percent.
Automakers Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW are declining between 1.9 percent and 1.35 percent.
Insurers Allianz and MunichRe are down 1.6 percent each.
Siemens is down 1.4 percent. HSBC reduced its price target on the stock to 115 euros from 125 euros.
Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Basf to 77 euros from 72 euros. However, Basf is declining about 2 percent.
RWE is losing 0.44 percent, while E.ON is modestly up. Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on both utilities.
Outside the main index, Kabel Deutschland is losing 6 percent after reporting a full-year loss that widened from last year owing to refinancing related one-off expenses.
In Paris, oil & gas services provider Technip is falling 2.3 percent. Total is losing 0.8 percent. The oil giant said it is selling its stake in Norway's Gassled joint venture for $870 million.
Among lenders, Natixis and Societe Generale are notably lower. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are losing moderately.
Car manufacturers Renault and Peugeot are losing 2.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
Cap Gemini and STMicroelectronics are notably lower.
In London, Antofagasta is falling 3.7 percent. Fresnillo, Kazakhmys, Xstrata, Eurasian Natutal Resources and Lonmin are losing between 3.4 percent and 2.7 percent.
Royal Bank of Scotland is down 1.5 percent. Barclays is down 0.7 percent. Lloyds Banking Group is flat.
BG Group and BP are declining 1.8 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
In Zurich, UBS is falling 2 percent. Goldman Sachs cut its price target on the stock to 23.30 Swiss francs from 23.40 francs.
On the economic front, German shipments declined more than expected in April, pushing down the trade surplus below expectations. Exports fell by calendar and seasonally adjusted 5.5 percent month-on-month in April, after rising 7.2 percent in March, exceeding the expected 3 percent drop. Separately, data showed that the country's April industrial output rose 9.6 percent on year, compared to the consensus of a growth of 10 percent.
Switzerland's unemployment rate dropped further in May, data from the State Secretariat For Economic Affairs showed.
The eurozone economy expanded 0.8 percent sequentially in the first quarter, second estimates published by Eurostat showed. That follows 0.3 percent expansion in the fourth quarter of 2010. The growth rate matched flash estimate released on May 13.
Across Asia/Pacific, Australia's All Ordinaries lost 0.70 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.91 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.22 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.07 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. Tuesday, stocks saw moderate strength for much of the trading session, but came under pressure late in the day on the heels of comments from Bernanke, pulling the major averages into negative territory.
Bernanke spoke at the International Monetary Conference in Atlanta, indicating that the Fed is likely to leave accommodative monetary policy in place due to slower than expected economic growth. The Dow dipped 0.2 percent, the Nasdaq edged down less than a tenth of a percent and the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for July delivery is losing $0.73 to $98.36 per barrel and August gold is sliding $8.3 to $1535.7 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.