European Investors Back Away From All-Time Highs

European stocks traded firmly on the back foot Wednesday as investors backed away from all-time highs on major benchmarks and dumped the U.S dollar amid reports of an ongoing political scandal in the White House that threatens to engulf President Donald Trump's nascent administration.

The region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 Index, the broadest measure of share prices, was marked 0.3% lower by 10:30 BST, the biggest decline in nearly a month, with bank and financial sector stocks leading the declines. Germany's DAX performance index fell more than 0.7% at the opening bell, but pared that slump to around 0.4% as the session progressed. Britain's FTSE 100, however, was able to claw its way into positive territory as pound weakened modestly against the dollar, making companies on the benchmark more attractive to international investors.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.