On Frankfurt's DAX, kidney dialysis company Fresenius (FRE.DE) was 1.4% lower, industrial manufacturing company Siemens (SIE.DE) was down by 1.2% and Commerzbank (CBK.DE) was down by 1.1%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index was 0.20% lower, London's FTSE 100 Index was down by 0.07%, Frankfurt's DAX was down by 0.24% and Paris' CAC-40 was 0.23% lower at the time of writing. European equity benchmarks were in the doldrums on Wednesday morning as health care stocks moved south and traders eyed the release of key inflation data due out in the US later in the day.