Despite a positive report on German business sentiment, concerns about the US economy and banking sector troubles weighed on investor confidence on Wednesday. The weakening dollar led to increased interest in commodities like oil, gold, and industrial metals. A warning from Deutsche Bank about potential credit market issues and a drop in US consumer confidence in March kept investors on edge. Additionally, new data showed a unexpected decrease in new orders for US manufactured goods in February, further adding to worries about the economy. As a result, major stock index futures indicated a lower opening for Wall Street. Sean Maloney, a fixed-income strategist at Nomura in London, stated that there is still nervousness in the banking sector despite JPMorgan raising its bid for Bear Stearns. The announcement from Deutsche Bank serves as a reminder that this increase in bid does not solve all the problems for the financial sector. Earlier in the week, JPMorgan's takeover offer for Bear Stearns had increased by about fivefold, leading to a rally in financial stocks globally and reducing concerns about a credit crunch. However, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares dropped by 0.9 percent, Germany's DAX fell by 0.7 percent, and London's FTSE 100 index shed 0.7 percent due to various factors such as Xtrata's 7 percent fall after failed takeover talks with Vale. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei ended down 0.3 percent while MSCI's measure of other Asian stock markets climbed 0.7 percent. MSCI's primary global stock index increased by 0.2 percent. The dollar decreased in value compared to major currencies, with the dollar index dropping by 0.8 percent due to concerns about the US economy. On the other hand, positive data indicating an improvement in the German business climate index, based on a survey of approximately 7,000 companies, led to an increase in the euro's value. The euro went up by about 0.7 percent to $1.5736, supported by remarks from European Central Bank's Jean-Claude Trichet, which were seen as suggesting that interest rate reductions were not likely in the near future. Trichet, speaking before an economic committee of the European Parliament, stated that the ECB believed the current monetary policy would help maintain price stability in the long term. US light crude for May delivery increased by $1.25 to reach $102.47, while the price of gold went up to $947.70 per ounce from approximately $934.60 per ounce in New York on Tuesday. Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange was last traded at $8,155/tonne, reflecting a 0.8 percent increase. Despite a bleak outlook in the US, global demand for various commodities is expected to remain strong, especially due to robust economies like China. Shuji Sugata, a manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures and Securities Ltd in Tokyo, mentioned that the weakening dollar has led to increased buying activity, although traders are hesitant to make significant investments before the end of the quarter. Concerns about the US economy have driven demand for safe-haven U.S. Treasuries, causing the benchmark 10-year yield to decrease by approximately 5 basis points to 3.457 percent. German 10-year bonds did not perform as well as US bonds due to comments from Trichet and new bond supply. The 10-year yield remained steady at 3.887 percent.