European Markets Fall As Economic Worries Persist

Most of the European markets fell Wednesday as investors were losing optimism on policymakers announcing stimulus measures to rejuvenate the weakening euro zone.

The French CAC 40 index fell 0.39 percent or 13.33 points to 3436.94. Shares of Vivendi SA dropped 1.08 percent and those of Vinci SA declined 0.91 percent.

London's FTSE 100 index was down 0.45 percent or 26.49 points to 5838.29. Shares of Anglo American PLC fell 1.39 percent and shares of BHP Billiton PLC were down 1.31 percent.

The German DAX 30 index declined 0.31 percent or 21.93 points to 6952.46. Shares of Deutsche Bank AG dropped 0.82 percent and those of Daimler AG fell 0.41 percent.

Spain's IBEX 35 was marginally down 0.05 percent or 3.80 points to 7121. Shares of Telefonica SA declined 0.59 percent and those of Repsol SA fell 0.30 percent.

Investors feel that bold measures from the European Central Bank, including easing the monetary policy, are urgently needed to boost liquidity in the global financial system. Lack of the bold measures from the ECB is weighing down the market confidence.

The euro zone economy entered recession in the second quarter with the troubled economies of Spain and Italy seeing sharp falls in GDP, hindering their fiscal consolidation efforts and deepening the region's debt crisis. Italy and Spain had contracted 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent respectively while Portugal shrank 1.2 percent and Greece contracted 6.2 percent in the second quarter compared to same period last year.

Investor sentiment has turned fragile as the market players continue to worry about the uncertainties in the euro zone. Market participants sense that the euro zone crisis is also taking its toll on the rest of the world with activity slowing down in all major economies, including China and Japan, in the second quarter.