European Stocks Are Down

European stocks are down a hair ahead of construction figures later Wednesday.

Here's the scorecard:

France's CAC 40 is down 0.16%

Germany's DAX is down 0.05%

The UK's FTSE 100 is down 0.25%

Italy's FTSE MIB is the only riser, up 0.09% after opening down.

Spain's IBEX is down 0.45%

Asian markets closed down. Japan's Nikkei finished 0.32% down after some heavy volatility in recent weeks, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished down 0.66%.

US futures are down a smidgen too: the Dow is 21 points lower, and the S&P 500 is 3.25 points down.

It's not a busy day for data: at 10 a.m. GMT, European construction output figures for September are released, and US building permits and housing starts follow at 1.30 p.m. GMT.

There are also two sets of central bank minutes out today: at 9.30 a.m. GMT, the Bank of England's minutes for the latest monetary policy meeting will be released, followed by the Fed's at 7 p.m. GMT.