During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.68%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.73%, while Germany’s DAX 30 retreated 0.53%.
Sentiment remained under pressure after data on Tuesday showed that the Spanish economy fell deeper into recession in the second quarter and the country's most economically important region, Catalonia, said it needed a major rescue from Madrid.
The data came after the European Central Bank said that its President Mario Draghi would not be attending an annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, due to his "heavy workload" in the next few days.
The ECB president had been due to speak at the summit on Saturday, one day after a keenly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, amid ongoing speculation over how close the U.S. central bank is to implementing more stimulus measures.
Financial stocks remained broadly lower, as shares in France’s BNP Paribas and Societe Generale plunged 1.51% and 1.38%, while German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank fell 0.40% and 0.32% respectively.
Peripheral lenders added to losses, with Spanish lenders Banco Santander and BBVA retreating 1.44% and 0.65%, while Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit eased 0.08% and 0.06%.
Meanwhile, Paris-based cosmetics giant L’Oreal tumbled 4.44% even as it reported an 11% increase in profit.
Also on the downside, telecom firm Bouygues dove 8.17%, extending earlier losses, after trimming the earnings forecast for its phone business as it cut prices and lost customers to new entrant Iliad SA.
Rivals France Telecom and Vivendi tumbled 2.70% and 2.39% respectively.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 dropped 0.54%, weighed by sharp losses in mining stocks.
Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton saw shares plummet 2.77% and 0.97% respectively, while Glencore saw shares dive 3.54%.
Copper producers also contributed to losses, as shares in Xstrata and Kazakhmys declined 1.77% and 1.58%.
In addition, oil and gas major Anglo American plunged 2.16%, while BP saw shares decline 0.48%.
Elsewhere, U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower. Shares in Barclays plummeted 1.62% and Lloyds Banking declined 1.64%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Holdings retreated tumbled 1.56% and 1.13% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.06% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.06% decline, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.03% loss.
Later in the day, Germany was to release preliminary data on consumer price inflation.
The U.S. was to produce revised data on second quarter gross domestic product, followed by an industry report on pending home sales.
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