Major European Markets Close Flat

Major European markets ended somewhat flat on Wednesday with investors largely making cautious moves amid concerns about rising inflation and worries about a surge in coronavirus cases and travel restrictions in several countries.

Slovakia’s hospitals are in a critical situation dealing with a surge in coronavirus infections. Elsewhere, the Austrian government is set to approve measures to limit access to services for unvaccinated people.

Dutch front-month contract for wholesale gas rose about 5% to extend gains from the previous session, adding to concerns around soaring costs across the continent.

The British pound hit its highest level against the euro since February 2020, as a surge in inflation to 10-year highs fueled bets of an interest rate hike as early as next month.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.14%. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.02% and 0.06%, respectively, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 shed 0.49%. Switzerland’s SMI climbed 0.34%.

Other markets in Europe ended mixed. Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Poland and Spain ended weak.

Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Turkey closed higher, while Norway and Sweden settled flat.

In the UK market, Sage Group shares soared nearly 10%. The company said it expects a continued strong performance in its cloud offering to drive revenue growth in the year ahead.

Aveva Group and Smiths Group both gained nearly 3%. Glencore, Fresnillo, Auto Trader Group, RightMove, Anglo American Plc, Polymetal International and Darktrace gained 1 to 3%.

London Stock Exchange Group shares plunged more than 6%. SSE shed more than 2% after reporting a 25% drop in renewable power output.

Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Experian, IAG, Vodafone Group, Informa, Taylor Wimpey, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Smurfit Kappa Group, Hargreaves Lansdown, Burberry Group, Melrose Industries and ICP lost 2 to 5%.

In the French market, Schneider Electric, Saint Gobain, Legrand, Kering, ArcelorMittal, Michelin and STMicroElectronics gained 1 to 2%.

Unibail Rodamco declined 4.7%. WorldLine, Safran, Atos, Accor, Technip, Air France KLM, Thales and Bouygues lost 1.4 to 3%.

In Germany, Siemens Healthineers surged up more than 5.5%. The medical technology firm said that it expects an accelerated comparable revenue growth of 6 to 8% per annum for fiscal years 2023 to 2025.

HelloFresh climbed about 3.3%, while Deutsche Bank, Zalando and Merck also ended sharply higher.

Shares of Fresenius Medical Care moved up sharply after the company said it would cut around 500 to 750 jobs in Germany as part of its recently announced plan of 5,000 job cuts worldwide.

Fresenius, MTU Aero Engines, Deutsche Boerse and Deutsche Wohnen lost 1 to 2.2%.

Basler AG shares ended lower by about 1.1% after the company said that it has been target of an external cyberattack causing massive disruptions of the company IT-infrastructure.

Shares of Swiss luxury firm Richemont ended modestly higher, gaining for a fifth straight day, on brokerage upgrades.

In economic news, official data showed that U.K. consumer price inflation advanced to 4.2% in October from 3.1% in September. The rate was forecast to climb to 3.9%.

Eurozone inflation increased as estimated in October, rising to 4.1% in the month from 3.4% in September, final data from Eurostat showed. The rate came in line with the flash estimate published on October 29. A similar higher rate was last registered in July 2008.

Eurozone construction output grew for the first time in four months in September, expanding 0.9% on month, reversing a 1.4% fall in August, data from Eurostat said.

Civil engineering output increased 2.6% and building construction gained 0.9% in September.

On a yearly basis, construction output rose 1.5%, in contrast to the 2.6% decrease in August.

EU27 construction output climbed 1.2% on month taking the annual growth to 1.8% in September, the data showed.

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