Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Wednesday.
Mounting geopolitical tension sparked a rally in the oil price, helping major energy producers such as BP, but offset potentially supportive talk of more mergers in the pipeline as investors grew increasingly uneasy. Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress that uncertainties surrounding the economic outlook had increased recently and future Fed decisions would depend on what happens to both inflation and growth.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed down 0.61 percent at 1,499.83 points, making this the third consecutive trading day of declines.