Market Update
Stocks in Europe opened weak Wednesday, as a successful confidence vote for the Greece prime minister was not enough to allay concerns over the fiscal health of the debt-laden nation.
At the time of writing, Britain's FTSE, France's CAC and Germany's DAX fell 0.2% to 0.3%.
On Tuesday, Greece Prime Minister George Papandreou won a key confidence vote in the parliament, clearing the first step for the nation to get access to emergency funds the country requires to service its immediate obligations. But markets were unenthused as various analysts, including Pimco's Mohammad El-Erian, maintained the only solution for Greece remains a default.
Investors chose to stay on the sidelines and await the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting in the United States to gain insights into the central bank's analysis of the economic situation.
Miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata were off about 1% each while in financials, Barclays, Credit Agricole and Deutsche Bank lost 0.2% to 0.9%.
Shares in Philips plunged 11% after the electronics giant warned of weaker-than-expected demand for some of its products going forward.