On Wednesday, European stocks sharply lowered, as the devaluation of the Yuan by the Chinese government continues to put pressure on the world's shares for the second session in a row.
During European morning trade the STOXX EURO 50 fell 1.88%, France's CAC 40 lost 1.83%, while the German DAX 30 fell 1.97%.
European shares remained under pressure after China devalued the Yuan in an effort to provide support to exporters after the recent series of disappointing economic reports.
Earlier on Wednesday, data showed that Industrial production in China rose in annual terms by 6.0% in July, which was less than the expected 6.6%.
Markets also remained cautious after on Monday Ukraine has accused the separatists in the heaviest artillery strikes since the signing of agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the cease-fire.
The French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS: BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS: SOGN) lost 1.48% and 1.58%, while German Deutsche Bank (XETRA: DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA: CBKG) weakened by 1.49% and 1.74%.
Among the peripheral lenders, shares of Italian Unicredit (MILAN: CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN: ISP) fell 1.39% and 1.62% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID: BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID: SAN) retreated 1.40% and 1.79%.
Shares of the German manufacturer Henkel AG (XETRA: HNKG) tumbled 6.02% after there were reported a 14% increase in core earnings in the second quarter.
The German company E.ON SE NA (XETRA: EONGn) said that in the first half revenues went down 13%, sending shares down with 0.45%.
London's FTSE 100 lost 1.32%, being under pressure of a sharp decline in the mining sector.
Shares of Rio Tinto (LONDON: RIO) and Antofagasta (LONDON: ANTO) fell 3.13% and 3.15% respectively, shares of Bhp Billiton (LONDON: BLT) retreated 3.29%, while the shares of Glencore (LONDON: GLEN) tumbled 5.08%.
Shares of Lloyds Banking (LONDON: LLOY) fell 0.62%, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON: RBS) eased 1.13%, while shares of Barclays (LONDON: BARC) and HSBC Holdings (LONDON: HSBA) lost 1.19% and 1.55% respectively.
Meanwhile, shares in G4S (COP: G4S) fell 2.49%, despite the statement of the outsourcing company to increase profits for the first half of the year by 5%.
In the US, equity markets pointed to a lower open. Futures of Dow Jones Industrial Average show a 0.69% decline, futures of S & P 500 indicate a 0.71% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures reported a decrease of 0.69%.