European markets saw declines on Wednesday.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.56 percent lower to 1,549.26.
In Frankfurt the Dax dropped 0.18 percent to 7,828.96 and in Paris the CAC-40 was down 0.53 percent to 5,674.67, while Madrid’s IBEX fell 1.29 percent to 15,231.3.
Banks were hurt by the report on Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER; TYO: 8675) writedowns.
Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) was 0.7 percent lower to €87.24, while BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) was down 1.4 percent to €73.45 and Dexia (Euronext: DEXB) dropped 1.51 percent to €21.48.
Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) fell 1.78 percent to €111.82, UBS (SWX: USBN; NYSE: UBS; TYO: 8657) was 1.8 percent lower to SFr62.65, and Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) was down 2.76 percent to €28.38.
Truck makers were mixed.
Man (FWB: EDF1) dropped 1.69 percent to €120.43, while Volvo (OMXS: VOLV A, VOLV B; NAS: VOLV) added 5.2 percent to kr122 on a higher production estimate.
Carmakers were higher, with Volkswagen (FWB: VOW; OTC: VLKAY) adding 1.66 percent to €172.62 after a change in the law made it more likely that Porsche (FWB: POR3) will make a full-on takeover bid.
Peugeot (Euronext: UG; OTC: PEUGY) was up 0.11 percent to €56.54.
Utilities were up in Frankfurt.
Eon (FWB: EOA; NYSE: EON; LSE: EON) was 1.34 percent higher to €133.03, while RWE (FWB: RWE) gained 1.62 percent to €94.64.