The German market is moderately lower in afternoon trading Wednesday, as investors continued to exercise caution with diminishing hopes of stimulus measures. The Asian markets fell amid concerns of growth in China.
Minutes of the Bank of England's meeting held on August 1 and 2 showed that policymakers unanimously decided to retain quantitative easing at 375 billion pounds and the interest rate unchanged at 0.50 percent.
The number of Britons claiming jobless benefits unexpectedly declined in July, latest data from the Office for National Statistics revealed. The claimant count declined by 5,900 persons monthly to 1.59 million in July. Economists had expected the figure to climb by 6,000.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is losing 0.39 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is falling 0.25 percent.
The DAX index is currently falling 0.49 percent.
ThyssenKrupp is falling 2.3 percent, leading the decliners. HeidelbergCement is falling 1.1 percent.
Insurers Allianz and MunichRe are dropping around 1.1 percent each.
K+S is gaining 1.2 percent and E.ON is rising 1.1 percent.
Air Berlin, which reported a wider loss for the second quarter, is losing 1.1 percent.
Carl Zeiss Meditec was cut to "Add" from "Buy." The stock is moderately lower.
Deutsche Telekom is falling 0.5 percent. UBS removed the stock from 'Most Preferred List.'
Elsewhere in Europe, the French CAC 40 is losing 0.38 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 is falling 0.47 percent. However, Switzerland's SMI is gaining 0.23 percent.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets fell as hopes of more stimulus measures waned. Australia's All Ordinaries fell 0.2 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.1 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.2 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged down 0.05 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street, ahead of some key data. In the previous session, the major averages ended the session mixed for the fourth time in the past five sessions. While the Dow crept up 0.02 percent, the Nasdaq fell 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 edged down 0.01 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for September delivery is falling $0.27 to $93.16 per barrel and December gold is falling $5 to $1597.4 a troy ounce.
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