European shares edged higher on Wednesday as a softer-than-expected UK inflation boosted hopes of imminent interest-rate cuts by the Bank of England, while investors awaited more economic data from euro zone later in the day.
Global markets are still recovering from a higher-than-expected inflation reading in the United States, which pushed back rate-cut expectations and led to an overnight selloff at the Wall Street.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.1%, while UK’s benchmark index gained 0.3% after British consumer price inflation grew at a slower pace than expected in January.
Among sectors, miners led the declines with a 1.1% fall, touching a near four-month low. “On the one hand, the UK economy is fragile, and the labour market has loosened materially over the last year.
These are all reasons to cut rates,“ said Michael Field, European market strategist at Morningstar.
“Inflation however remains elevated, at levels significantly higher than in the US and indeed the Eurozone.”
Meanwhile, European Central Bank Vice-President Luis de Guindos said the region’s inflation appears to be heading back to 2%, but more data is needed before the ECB can be comfortable that record-high rates have done their job.
Investors will now shift focus to GDP data from the euro area, due at 1000 GMT, which is expected to show that the region’s economy grew 0.1% in the fourth quarter, unchanged from a year-ago period.
European shares drop 1pc after US inflation data
ABN Amro was among the top performers, rising nearly 5.7% after the Dutch lender reported fourth-quarter net interest income slightly above expectations.
Delivery Hero gained 5.4% as its organic cash flow generation to be more than sufficient to settle convertible bond and debt maturities in the coming years.
Shares of Coca-Cola HBC climbed 4.9% as the Switzerland-based bottler forecast its annual profit to expand after reporting a record 2023 full-year profit.
Capgemini advanced 4.3%.
The French IT consulting group forecast slower revenue growth for 2024, anticipating a soft environment in the first half of the year.
Thyssenkrupp dropped 8.7% after the company cut its annual sales and net profit forecast, blaming softening demand and prices at its materials and steel divisions.
Heineken slumped 5% as the Dutch brewer forecast operating profit growth of low- to high-single digits in 2024, citing volatility in geopolitics and economic conditions.
Shares of TUI fell 3.5% after shareholders of Europe’s biggest travel agent voted to move its listing to Frankfurt.
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