European Corporate-Loan Demand Begins to Wane

BERLIN -- A new European Central Bank survey of bank lending in the euro currency zone suggests the global financial-market turmoil that started last summer is now taking a direct toll on corporate Europe.

Until now, strong corporate investment and hiring in the euro zone -- often by exporters still selling strongly into emerging markets -- has propped up the region's economy, even as housing markets and consumer confidence have soured. That period, however, now appears to be ending.

Friday's ECB survey of lenders in the 15-nation euro zone showed that European banks are tightening lending standards while demand for ...