European markets also headed lower again Wednesday after Tuesday’s gains.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.54 percent to 1,526.07.

In Frankfurt the Dax was 1.45 percent lower to 7,473.93, while the IBEX fell 1.46 percent to 14, 586.1 in Madrid and the Paris CAC-40 was down 1.68 percent to 5,654.3.

Volkswagen (FWB: VOW; OTC: VLKAY) had the best day on the Dax, where it added 1.12 percent to €134.

On the other hand, BMW (FWB: BMW) dropped 5.06 percent to €35.34.

Other gainers in Frankfurt included industrial gases group Linde (FWB: LIN) was up 0.97 percent to €87.60, while in Paris Air Liquide (Euronext: AI) dropped 2.61 percent to €93.21.

Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) added 0.73 percent to €20.83 and retailer Metro (FWB: MEO) was 0.65 percent higher to €57.56.

There were only two gainers on the CAC-40, both related to the steel sector.

Steel products manufacturer Vallourec (Euronext: VK) added 1.57 percent to €196.12, while Mittal Steel had the best day in Paris as it gained 2.21 percent to €46.74.

The utilities sector was lower, with Gaz de France (Euronext: GAZ) 2.47 percent lower to €33.50 and Suez (Euronext: SZE; NYSE: SZE) down 2.57 percent to €37.97.

Hotels operator Accor (Euronext: AC) fell 2.73 percent to €61.57, while in the pharmaceuticals sector Sanofi (Euronext: SAN; NYSE: SNY) was down 3.35 percent to €59.44.

Conglomerate Bouygues (Euronext: EN), with interests in media, construction and telecommunications, was the worst performer on the CAC-40, dropping 4.13 percent to €56.70.

Most European markets were also lower again on Friday.

The main exception was the IBEX, which was 0.23 percent higher to 14,574 in Madrid.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.54 percent to 1,519.59. In Paris the CAC-40 was 0.55 percent lower to 5,643.96, while the Dax fell 0.76 percent to 7,451.68 in Frankfurt.

The best performance on the session on the CAC-40 came from chipmaker STMicroelectronics (Euronext: STM; NYSE: STM), which added 1.44 percent to €12.66.

Elsewhere in the semiconductors sector, Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX) was also higher, gaining 0.41 percent to €12.26.

The Dax saw Volkswagen (FWB: VOW; OTC: VLKAY) rise to the top with a gain of 4.91 percent to €125.40.

There were other gains in the automobile manufacturing sector as Renault (Eurnoext: RNO) was up 0.37 percent to €103.26 and Peugeot (Euronext: UG; OTC: PEUGY) added 1.17 percent to €59.75.

Not all carmakers were higher however, as BMW (FWB: BMW) dropped 2.71 percent to €35.77.

In a related sector, tire maker Michelin (Euronext: ML) had the worst day on the CAC-40 as it fell 3.72 percent to €90.08.

The worst performance on the Dax came from retailer Metro, which dropped 2.99 percent to €56.39.

Not all retailers saw declines, however, as Carrefour (Euronext: CA) added 0.62 percent to €51.64.

The media sector was mixed.

Vivendi (Euronext: VIV) added 0.29 percent to €31.53, while Lagardere (Euronext: MMB) was down 1.92 percent to €59.34 and Bouygues (Euronext: EN), which has interests in both media and construction, fell 2.09 percent to €57.61.

Another construction group, Vinci (Euronext: DG), was 0.49 percent higher to €52.86.