European stocks recovered most of their early losses but closed slightly lower on Wednesday. Anxieties about Greece prevailed, as lawmakers in the debt-ridden nation must now do the dirty work of forcing austerity measures on their people.
Prime Minister George Papandreou's government survived a confidence vote yesterday, but must now pass significant fiscal reforms in order to secure emergency funds that will allow it to avoid defaulting in July.
Markets also jeered troubling news from two of Europe's high-profile companies, as Philips Electronics warned on demand and clothier H&M said it is being squeezed on margins.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks unofficially lost 0.25 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, fell 0.58 percent.
The German DAX slipped 0.10 percent, while the French CAC 40 lost 0.15 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 eased 0.04 percent and Switzerland's SMI fell 0.95 percent.
Phillips warned that second-quarter profit at two of its three business units would come in much lower than expected. Shares dropped 8.8 percent, Unicredit left Phillips on "Buy" with a price target of 29 euros.
Hennes & Mauritz fell 2.3 percent in Stockholm after the company said its first-half profit declined, hurt mainly by high cotton prices.
Krones was given a "Buy" recommendation from UBS, which also lifted its price target to 60 euros. Shares rose 4 percent.
Printing press maker Heidelberg Druck was lowered to "Hold" at NordLB. Shares were down 2.3 percent.
Suedzucker AG rose 4 percent to its best in over a decade as the food maker forecast strong revenues.
Man Group Plc climbed 4.8 ercent on analyst recommendations.
Dixons Retail Plc soared 7.7 percent after the London Times reported that Best Buy Co. may be interesting acquiring the company.
Merck KGaA lost 2.8 percent after the company stopped development of a multiple sclerosis pill.
Drug wholesaler Celesio rose 3.6 percent after Manager Magazin reported that Markus Pinger, board member of Beiersdorf AG, will become Celesio's chief executive officer.
Alcohol maker Remy Cointreau SA was downgraded to "underweight" from "neutral" at JPMorgan Chase. Shares fell 1.7 percent.
Gold miner Petropavlovsk Plc was raised to "buy" from "neutral" at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research. Shares rose 1.37 percent.
Dental products maker Dentsply International agreed to buy the Swedish healthcare and dental business, Astra Tech AB, of pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca Plc for about $1.8 billion in cash.
AstraZeneca shares were up fractionally.
Cable & Wireless Worldwide confirmed that its board considered and rejected an approach received for its Global business. The stock slipped 2.5 percent.
Bank of England's policy makers retained interest rates at a record low 0.5 in June, again by a split vote, the minutes of the meeting showed Wednesday. But certain members hinted at further quantitative easing, citing downside risks to medium-term inflation.
Meanwhile, new orders received by Eurozone industrial sector increased in April, but the rebound from March's decline was weaker than expected, latest figures from Eurostat showed Wednesday.
Orders grew 0.7 percent month-on-month in April, after falling 1.5 percent in March.
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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.