The European markets are declining moderately to notably in afternoon trading Monday, as euro zone debt worries persist, amid Sunday's arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund chief. Weak cues from Asia and falling U.S. index futures prompted investors to refrain from risk. Banks and auto stocks are falling.
It is feared that the arrest of Strauss-Kahn, on suspicion of sexual assault on a hotel maid, may affect a key European meeting at Brussels today to discuss Greece's financing needs.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chippers is declining 1.27 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is dropping 0.63 percent.
The German DAX is declining 1.34 percent, and the French CAC 40 is falling 1.39 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 is receding 0.88 percent and Switzerland's SMI is slipping 0.68 percent.
Among the DAX components, Commerzbank is leading the decliners by falling 3.95 percent. Deutsche Bank is dropping 1.6 percent.
Automakers Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW are losing between 3.7 percent and 1.1 percent.
Insurer Allianz is falling 2.45 percent and MunichRe is sliding 1.1 percent.
Steelmaker ThyssenKrupp is losing 1.8 percent. Several analysts increased their price targets on the stock.
Sports goods giant Adidas, Nivea maker Beiersdorf and diversified chemicals firm Bayer are moderately up.
In Paris, car manufacturers Renault and Peugeot are losing 3.1 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.
Among lenders, Credit Agricole is declining 2.75 percent. BNP Paribas, Natixis and Societe Generale are declining between 2.1 percent and 1.65 percent.
Several analysts raised their price targets on EADS. However, the Airbus maker is receding about 2 percent.
In London, retailers Kingfisher, Marks & Spencer, Next and Sainsbury are losing between 2.9 percent and 1.5 percent.
Among lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland is losing 2.15 percent and Lloyds Banking Group is falling 1.9 percent. Barclays is sliding 1.8 percent.
Miners Antofagasta, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton are gaining.
Software firm Autonomy is rising 4.1 percent. The company announced a deal to acquire selected key assets of Iron Mountain Inc. for $380 million.
In economic news, eurozone annual inflation accelerated in April as expected, final data from the Eurostat showed. Annual inflation rose to 2.8 percent in April, the highest level since October 2008. In March, the inflation rate was 2.7 percent.
Meanwhile, eurozone trade surplus for March was bigger than expected. The non-seasonally adjusted trade surplus rose to 2.8 billion euros from 2.7 billion euros in the same month last year. Economists had forecast an excess of 2 billion euros.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets ended lower, as crisis in Europe continued to impact sentiment. Australia's All Ordinaries lost 1.32 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.73 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 1.36 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.94 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow fell 0.8 percent, the Nasdaq dropped 1.2 percent and the S&P 500 slid 0.8 percent.
Among commodities, crude for June delivery is falling $1.78 to $97.87 per barrel and June gold is adding $0.6 to $1494.2 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.