German Market In Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - The German market was in negative territory on Wednesday afternoon, as weak commodity and metal prices impacted risk appetite.

In economic news, U.K. house prices increased the most in eight months in December as a strong labor market underpinned buyer demand amid shortage of properties. House prices grew 0.8 percent in December, faster than the 0.1 percent gain seen in November, data from the Nationwide Building Society showed.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks fell 0.39 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, dropped 0.44 percent.

The DAX index fell 0.3 percent.

Daimler and BMW were in negative territory.

Meanwhile, utility RWE climbed 2.7 percent and peer E.ON was moderately higher.

Other markets in the region were also mostly lower.

The Asian stocks ended mixed despite positive overnight cues from Wall Street and Europe.

In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages rose more than 1 percent each.

Crude for February delivery fell $0.84 to $37.03 per barrel, while February gold advanced $1.6 to $1069.6 a troy ounce.

Julius Baer added about 2 percent in Zurich, after the lender reported an agreement in principle with the U.S. to settle a tax evasion probe.