By Sarah Turner
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares declined in early trading on Wednesday, with banks under pressure as Deutsche Bank (DE:DBK 49.62, 0.00, 0.00%) shares lost 2.4% and Barclays (UK:BARC 310.75, 0.00, 0.00%) shares declined 2%. BASF (DE:BAS 46.67, 0.00, 0.00%) shares were down 0.6% after the German chemical giant said that it will buy Cognis Holding in a $3.8 billion deal, while retailer Kesa Electricals (UK:KESA 117.40, 0.00, 0.00%) climbed 2% after the firm swung to a fiscal-year profit. The U.K. FTSE 100 index declined 14% to 5,197.27, the German DAX index declined 0.7% to 6,222.17 and the French CAC-40 index lost 1.1% to 3,666.52.
