A positive German business sentiment report boosted the euro and European stocks on Wednesday, while concerns about the US economy continued to weigh on the dollar. The weakening dollar led to increased interest in commodities like oil and gold, which had recently experienced a decline in prices. Despite the softer US outlook, global demand for commodities is expected to remain strong, particularly due to growing economies such as China. The Ifo institute's report showed an improvement in German corporate sentiment in March, with firms taking a more positive view of the economic situation. This has helped to alleviate some of the pessimism surrounding the global economy, with the Ifo report exceeding expectations for the third month in a row, according to Audrey Childe Freeman, a European economist at CIBC World Markets. She mentioned that the recent data supports the idea that Germany is becoming more independent from the euro zone, and it suggests that the European Central Bank will not be lowering interest rates in the near future. The Ifo economic research institute reported an increase in its business climate index, which resulted in a decrease in investors' interest in safe-haven euro zone government bonds. This news comes after a decline in US consumer confidence and a significant drop in home values, indicating that Americans may be cutting back on spending. Despite early losses, the FTSEurofirst 300 index briefly turned positive before ultimately falling 0.2 percent. Germany's DAX remained steady, while London's FTSE 100 index dropped 0.3 percent. Swiss mining company Xtrata experienced a significant drop of approximately 9 percent after takeover discussions with Vale, the world's largest iron ore miner, fell through. Just the day before, European stocks had increased by around 3 percent, driven by banks, following JPMorgan's announcement of a five-fold increase in their offer to acquire Bear Stearns, which helped alleviate concerns about the impact of the credit crunch on the sector. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei index closed 0.3 percent lower, while MSCI's measurement of other Asian stock markets rose by 0.6 percent. The MSCI world equity index saw a slight increase of 0.2 percent. The dollar weakened against a range of major currencies, reflecting ongoing worries about the state of the US economy. The dollar index decreased by 0.6 percent, causing the euro to increase by half a US cent to approximately $1.5646 following the Ifo report. The 10-year Bund yield remained relatively stable at 3.872 percent, while the 10-year yield for US Treasuries decreased by 2.4 basis points to 3.517 percent. US light crude for May delivery rose by 73 cents to $101.94, and gold slightly increased to $940.50 per ounce from around $934.60 per ounce late in New York on Tuesday.