The pan-European Stoxx 600 slid 0.6%, the Dax in Germany dropped 1.6%, the CAC 40 in France declined 0.7%, and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. shed 0.6%

European stocks were down on Wednesday, as investors gauged ongoing developments in the war in the Middle East.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 slid 0.6%, the Dax in Germany dropped 1.6%, the CAC 40 in France declined 0.7%, and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. shed 0.6%.

Shares in the region were given a steady handover from stocks in Asia, where traders were reacting to a Wall Street Journal report that the International Energy Agency was proposing its largest-ever release of oil reserves to help put a lid on oil prices.

The report offered some relief to markets which have been battered by wild ructions in crude prices, with the global Brent benchmark now hovering near $91 a barrel after having risen to around $120 earlier this week.

At 17:06 GMT, Brent crude futures had jumped by 4.5% to $91.71 a barrel.

Yet the fighting in Iran has continued to rage on. Iran exchanged air strikes with the U.S. and Israel across the Middle East on Wednesday.

Global markets have been wagering that U.S. president will opt to bring the war to a quick conclusion, although the president has threatened to strike harder should Iran attempt to block oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which nearly a fifth of the world’s crude passes.

Beyond the war, investors in Europe were assessing new inflation data out of Germany, which showed that harmonized consumer price growth accelerated as anticipated month-on-month in February.

Elsewhere, U.S. consumer price growth remained relatively weak in February, although the outlook for inflation has darkened after the oil market ructions.