European Markets Close Mostly Lower After Cautious Session

European markets ended on a weak note on Wednesday as investors largely refrained from making significant moves as they looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement, due later in the day.

Markets were also looking ahead to the policy statements from the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan, due on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Earnings announcements and other corporate news, data on eurozone construction and consumer prices, and updates on the vaccine front made some impact on price movements in the markets.

The pan European Stoxx 600 slid 0.45%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended down 0.6% and France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.1%, while Germany’s DAX climbed 0.27%. Switzerland’s SMI ended lower by 0.2%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed with sharp to moderate losses, while Belgium and Czech Republic ended higher.

In the UK market, Ocado Group, M&G, Anglo American, Evraz, Legal & General Group, Compass Group, Scottish Mortgage, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, BHP Group, National Grid and Standard Life ended lower by 2 to 5%.

BT Group shares rallied 6.5% and Rolls-Royce Holdings gained about 3.5%, while Intertek Group, British American Tobacco, Standard Life, HSBC Holdings and Vodafone Group ended higher by 1.5 to 2.5%.

Hargreaves Lansdown shares moved higher after the company said its profit for the year ending June 30 should be “modestly” above analyst estimates.

In France, Accor, ArcelorMittal, Technip, WorldLine, Veolia, CapGemini, Essilor, Sodexo, Safran and Sanofi ended lower by 1 to 2%, while Valeo, Renault, Publicis Groupe, Michelin, LVMH and Vivendi ended sharply higher.

In the German market, RWE, Thyssenkrupp, Munic RE and Merck lost 2 to 3%.

Volkswagen rallied 11%, rising sharply for a second straight day after forecasting sales and earnings growth for 2021. BMW gained more than 6% after it forecast significant year-on-year increase in group profit in 2021.

Continental, Henkel, Covestro and Deutsche Bank also ended on strong not.

In economic news, final data from Eurostat showed the Eurozone consumer price index rose 0.9% year-on-year, the same rate as in January. A year earlier, the rate was 1.2%. Inflation was in positive territory for the second straight month and in line with the preliminary estimate. Compared to the previous month, consumer prices rose 0.2% in February, as initially estimated.

Core inflation, which excludes prices of energy, food, alcohol & tobacco, eased to 1.1% from 1.4% in January, the data showed. The core rate also came in line with the estimate published on March 2.

Another data from Eurostat showed Eurozone’s construction output grew 0.8% month-on-month in January, after a 1.5% fall in December. In November, construction output increased 2.6%. On a year-on-year basis, the construction output fell 1.9% in January, after remaining unchanged in the prior month.

New car registrations declined 19.3% year-on-year in February, but slower than the 24% decrease seen in January, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said.

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