The French market is 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 0.37 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is falling 0.22 percent.
The CAC 40 index is losing 0.38 percent.
Lafarge is losing 1.5 percent and Vallourec is falling 1.4 percent. ArcelorMittal is declining 2.2 percent.
Renault is losing 0.9 percent while Peugeot is flat.
Veolia Environnement is gaining 1.4 percent. GDF Suez is moderately higher.
Credit Agricole is advancing 0.8 percent. Societe Generale is flat while BNP Paribas is falling 0.2 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is losing 0.49 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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