European Markets Fall On German Data

The European markets are moderate to notably lower in afternoon trading Tuesday, after data showed that growth in Germany nearly stalled in the second quarter. Traders exercised caution ahead of a meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to tackle the region's debt crisis. Cues from Asia were weak and U.S. index futures are lower. 

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is falling 1.69 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is dropping 0.90 percent.
The German
is declining 2.27 percent and the French40 is losing 1.76 percent. is dropping 1.13 percent and Switzerland's SMI is falling 0.72 percent.
Among the
components, automakers MAN, Daimler and BMW are losing from 4.8 percent to 3.9 percent.
Commerzbank is dropping 3.3 percent and Deutsche Bank is falling 2.5 percent.
Utility is declining 3.4 percent aftercut its price target on the stock to 31 euros from 42 euros.
is losing 1.6 percent even as Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "Buy' from "Neutral."
Unicredit raised its rating on K+S to "Buy" from "Hold." But, the stock is falling 2.65 percent.

In Paris, Renault and Peugeot are leading the decliners by falling 4.25 percent and 3.5 pecrent, respectively.
Lenders Credit Agricole
Societe Generale and Natixis aredeclining notably