On Tuesday, global stocks were mostly lower, after Wall Street edged down and the World Bank trimmed its Asian growth forecast.
Generally: Germany's DAX fell 0.9 percent to 9,127.05 and France's CAC-40 lost 0.8 percent to 4,253.72. Wall Street looked set for more declines, with futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 down 0.3 percent in pre-market trading. On Monday, the S&P shed 0.2 percent and the DJ lost 0.1 percent.
Wall Street: Stocks fell despite corporate news including Hewlett Packard Co.'s announcement it will split into two companies. The U.S. Federal Reserve was due to release notes on its latest meeting, and investors were looking for signs of when the Fed might raise rates — a move that for now is not expected until mid-2015.
Europe: Germany was due to report factory data that were expected to show a contraction in activity in August for the first time in 15 months. Analysts blame weak demand in other Eurozone markets and tensions with Russia that have weighed on trade. Earlier data showed auto production fell sharply in August while business confidence surveys also showed a decline in manufacturing.
World Bank: The World Bank trimmed its growth forecast for developing East Asian economies to 6.9 percent from an outlook of 7.1 percent in April. The bank said China, the region's biggest economy, should grow by 7.2 percent, declining to 7.5 percent next year, as the government tries to shift from reliance on trade and investment to growth driven by domestic consumption.
Asia: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 declined 0.7 percent to 15,783.83 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.4 percent to 23,408.19. Seoul's Kospi was up 0.2 percent at 1,972.91. Sydney's S&P ASX 200 lost 0.2 percent to 5,284.20 and India's Sensex was off 0.6 percent at 26,404.29. Singapore, Taiwan, Jakarta and New Zealand also fell.
Analyst's opinion: "Investors are also weighing improving fundamentals in the U.S. versus deteriorating conditions in Asia, especially after the World Bank downgraded growth forecasts in China and developing East Asia yesterday," said Desmond Chua of CMC Markets in a report.
Energy: Benchmark U.S. crude added 12 cents to $90.44 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 60 cents on Monday to close at $90.34. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 16 cents to $92.63.
Currencies: The dollar declined to 108.61 yen from Monday's 108.82. The euro edged down to $1.2630 from the previous session's $1.2653.
