European Stocks Pares Gains After U.S. Inflation Data, But Close Mostly Higher

After holding firm till around late afternoon, European stocks came off higher levels on Wednesday after data from the Labor Department showed U.S. consumer prices advanced by slightly more than expected in the month of March.

Still, most of the markets in Europe managed to end the day’s session on a positive note with investors looking ahead to the European Central Bank’s monetary policy announcement on Thursday.

The pan European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.15%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.33% and Germany’s DAX ended 0.11% up, while France’s CAC 40 and Switzerland’s SMI settled lower by 0.05% and 0.09%, respectively.

Among other markets in Europe, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Turkiye closed higher.

Austria, Belgium, Finland and Spain ended weak.

Data from the Labor Department showed U.S. consumer prices advanced by slightly more than expected in the month of March, climbing by 0.4%, matching the increase seen in February. Economists had expected consumer prices to rise by 0.3%.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 3.5% in March from 3.2% in February. Economists had expected a more modest acceleration to 3.4%.

In the UK market, Tesco rallied 3.3%. The supermarket group forecast a further increase in profit in its new financial year after posting an 11% jump in profit in 2023/24.

HSBC Holdings gained about 3%. JD Sports Fashion, RS Group, Next, Burberry Group, Reckitt Benckiser, Croda International, 3i, Royal Dutch Shell, Admiral Group, Weir Holdings, Beazley, Standard Chartered and Spirax-Sarco Engineering gained 1 to 2%.

Ocado Group drifted down more than 3%. Barratt Developments, Anglo American Plc, St. James’s Place, United Utilities, Experian, Taylor Wimpey, Segro, Convetec Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, BT, National Grid and Glencore lost 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Rheinmetall, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Telekom, Commerzbank, Continental, Munich RE, Daimler Truck Holding and Hannover Rueck climbed 1 to 2.5%.

Sartorius, Merck, BMW, MTU Aero Engines, RWE and Vonovia drifted lower.

In the French market, Teleperformance, Legrand, Schneider Electric, Sanofi, Societe Generale, Carrefour, TotalEnergies and Stellantis closed higher.

Edenred dropped more than 4%. WorldLine, Capgemini, Kering, Unibail Rodamco, Essilor, Veolia, Orange and Vinci ended lower by 1 to 2.3%.