12:14 PM EDT, 09/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed lower in Wednesday trading as The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 1.03%, the Swiss Market Index fell 1.39%, France's CAC was down 0.98%, the FTSE in London lost 0.35%, and Germany's DAX closed 0.83% lower.

The seasonally adjusted HCOB Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index rose in August for the first time since May to a three-month high of 51.0 from 50.2 in July.

Meanwhile, industrial producer prices rose 0.8% in both the euro area and the European Union in July, according to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. Compared with a year earlier, industrial producer prices were down 2.1% in the euro area and 1.9% in the EU.

In the UK, the headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global UK Services PMI Business Activity Index increased to 53.7 in August from 52.5 in July and remained above the 50.0-threshold dividing expansion from contraction for the 10th straight month.

And in corporate news, Volkswagen Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said the company has "a year, maybe two years to turn things around," according to media reports. The German automaker said it may have to close some of its plants in Germany for the first time in its history. Shares of Volkswagen were down 1.3% in Frankfurt.

Deutsche Bank has expanded its risk transfer portfolio by an additional $1 billion, increasing the underlying leveraged loan exposure to $3 billion, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the development. Deutsche Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MT Newswires.

Swiss bank UBS is merging its wealth management and private banking businesses in Brazil into a consolidated unit as the bank reorganizes its workforce after its acquisition of Credit Suisse, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing an internal memo. UBS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by MT Newswires.

And Microsoft received clearance from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority to hire certain former employees of Inflection AI, the regulator said Wednesday.