European Markets Fall On Euro Zone Economic Fears

Most European markets fell Wednesday as investor sentiment remained fragile following concerns about the worsening economic condition in the euro zone to hurt quarterly earnings of companies.

The German DAX 30 index fell 0.40 percent or 25.85 points to 6412.48. Shares of Daimler AG fell 1.50 percent and shares of Volkswagen AG declined 1.09 percent.

The French CAC 40 index declined 0.73 percent or 23.27 points to 3152.14. Shares of Alstom SA fell 1.70 percent and shares of Renault SA declined 1.55 percent.

London’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.50 percent or 28.31 points to 5635.76. Shares of Aggreko PLC dropped 1.49 percent and shares of Evraz PLC were down 1.46 percent.

Spain's IBEX 35 marginally fell 0.03 percent or 2 points to 6724.90. Shares of Bankia SA fell 3.23 percent and shares of Inditex SA dropped 0.65 percent.

Investors are expected to focus on the second-quarter earnings releases over the coming days with a number of key financials publishing their results later in the week. Market players are worried that earnings will be less than expected with the euro zone’s mounting debt burden and faltering economic situation.

Meanwhile, the German constitutional court said Tuesday that it would consider the complaints brought forward by various German MPs against the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the fiscal pact. This means that a further delay in the implementation of the ESM looks inevitable while it remains unclear whether the court will give its unconditional green light to the bills in the end.

Though the European finance ministers in their meeting in Brussels decided to provide Spain with 30 billion euros ($37 billion) in July itself, market participants feel it will not be sufficient to rescue the Spanish banks. Investors expect bolder moves from policy makers to alleviate the increasing debt burden in the euro zone.