Germany’s DAX was lower on Thursday. The DAX Index closed at 9,795.89 for a loss of -147.34 points or -1.48 percent. The DAX was lower as global stocks mostly fell for the day with investors adjusting valuations after receiving more insight from the U.S. Federal Reserve on its monetary policy. Ongoing political issues and debates in the U.K. and Greece also continued to be a factor.

Source: Google Finance.

For the day, chemicals, basic resources and utilities were lower. Bayer, Deutsche Post AG and Thyssenkrupp AG were the mostly actively traded stocks reporting the greatest losses. On Thursday, German drug and chemicals company, Bayer, confirmed it is seeking to buy Monsanto. Despite positive deal talks however, the company still led losses for the day. On Thursday, Bayer was down -7.84 points or -8.12 percent to 88.77 EUR. Actively traded stocks in Germany leading gains for the day included Prosiebensat 1 Media AG, Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG.

The DAX Volatility Index was up considerably for the day as uncertainty is high over a number of global and geopolitical factors. The DAX Volatility Index was up 4.71 percent to 23.58. Currency was also a concern for investors Thursday. For the day the euro traded slightly higher versus the dollar at 1.1201.

In other European markets, the FTSE 100 was down -112.45 points or -1.82 percent to 6,053.35. The FTSE 250 was also lower at 16,730.11 for a loss of -151.13 points or -0.90 percent. France’s CAC 40 was down -36.76 points or -0.85 percent to 4,282.54. The Stoxx Europe 600 was down at 333.91 for a loss of -3.67 points or -1.09 percent. The Europe Dow was down at 1,505.83 for a loss of -30.61 points or -1.99 percent.

In Asia, stocks traded mostly lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down -132.08 points or -0.67 percent to 19,694.33. In India, the S&P BSE Sensex was down -304.89 points or -1.19 percent to 25,399.72 and the NSE Nifty was lower at 7,783.40 for a loss of -86.75 points or -1.10 percent. In China, the Shanghai Composite was lower at 2,806.91 for a loss of -0.61 points or -0.02 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei was higher at 16,646.66 for a gain of 1.97 points or 0.01 percent. As a broad market measure, the Asia Dow was lower at 2,564.14 for a loss of -29.77 points or -1.15 percent.

In the U.S., leading market indexes were lower on Thursday with uncertainty over the Fed’s next rate increase. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost -91.22 points or -0.52 percent to close at 17,435.40. The S&P 500 was also down, closing at 2,040.04 for a loss of -7.59 points or -0.37 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4,712.53 for a loss of -26.59 points or -0.56 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was higher with the market’s continued uncertainty. The VIX Volatility Index closed at 16.42 on Thursday for a gain of 0.47 points or 2.95 percent.

Most other indexes in the U.S. were also broadly lower. The small-cap Russell 2000 closed at 1,094.76 for a loss of -8.20 points or -0.74 percent. The S&P 600 closed at 670.97 for a loss of -5.22 points or -0.77 percent. The S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,431.10 for a loss of -5.05 points or -0.35 percent. The Russell 3000 closed at 1,199.15 for a loss of -4.99 points or -0.41 percent and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 577.07 for a gain of 0.34 points or 0.06 percent.