12:02 PM EDT, 05/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed lower in Wednesday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 declined 0.54%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.57%, the FTSE 100 was down 0.44%, France's CAC 40 lost 0.91%, and the Swiss Market Index fell 0.96%.

The European Commission is ready to announce a provisional list of tariffs that will take effect if trade talks with the US fail, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted retail trade volume decreased 0.1% in the euro area and the European Union in March compared with February, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. Compared with a year earlier, the calendar adjusted retail sales index rose 1.5% in the euro area and 1.4% in the EU.

Eurozone construction continued to decline at the beginning of Q2, but at its slowest rate since February 2023, according to the HCOB Eurozone Construction PMI Total Activity Index, which rose to 46.0 in April from 44.8 in March. Despite the rise, the reading still indicated a significant reduction in euro area construction activity.

Construction activity in the UK was also on the decline in April, according to the headline S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers' Index, which edged higher to 46.6 from 46.4 in March. Although the index remained in contraction territory, the decline was the softest in three months.

In Germany, factory orders, which gauge manufacturing production in the country, surged 3.6% in March after being stagnant the previous month. The reading was more than double the 1.4% increase expected by analysts, according to Bloomberg.

And in corporate news, the European Union plans to levy tariffs on Boeing airplanes as part of retaliatory proposals should trade talks with the Trump administration fail, the Financial Times reported Wednesday. The EU's European Commission will include civilian aircraft as part of a list of about 100 billion euros ($113.4 billion) of annual US imports that will be targeted, the FT reported. Boeing did not immediately reply to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

With the impact of US tariffs looming, German automaker BMW reported a 25% decline in pre-tax earnings and earnings before financial result in Q1. "Free trade and international cooperation are important drivers of growth and progress," BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse said in a statement. "All sides should therefore avoid a spiral of isolation and trade barriers, and instead promote growth, progress and innovation worldwide."

Shares of BMW rose 1.77% on the DAX.

Spanish telecommunications operator Telefonica is formulating plans to revamp its technology business as part of a broader strategic review, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Telefonica did not immediately reply to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

Shares of Telefonica were off 0.35% in Madrid.

A recommendation to expand the indication for respiratory syncytial virus vaccines developed by British pharmaceutical company GSK and US pharmaceutical company Pfizer is being reviewed by a top aide to US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, Reuters reported late Tuesday. The companies did not immediately respond to a request from MT Newswires on Tuesday seeking comment.

Shares of GSK on the FTSE dropped 4.9%.