European Stocks Somewhat Subdued In Cautious Trade

After a slightly positive start and a subsequent retreat, European stocks recovered some lost ground Wednesday morning, and are modestly higher a little past noon.

Investors are digesting a slew of earnings announcements, and the latest batch of economic data from the region, while continuing to assess the possible impact of tighter monetary policies on growth.

The pan European Stoxx 600, the U.K.’s FTSE and France’s CAC 40 are all up marginally, while France’s CAC 40 is gaining about 0.43%. Switzerland’s SMI is down 0.17%.

In the UK market, HSBC Holdings is rising 2.35%. IAG, BP, Pershing Square Holdings, BAE Systems, Smith (DS), F&C Investment Trust and GSK are gaining 1 to 1.6%.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals is down nearly 4%. Kingfisher, Lloyds Banking Group, ICP, Land Securities, Segro, Persimmon, RightMove, British Land, Ocado Group and B&M European Value Retail are down 2 to 3.4%.

In Paris, Air France-KLM is climbing more than 3%. Publicis Groupe is up nearly 3% and Valeo is gaining about 2%. Thales, AXA, Veolia, Carrefour and Orange are also notably higher.

Covestro, Brenntag, Munich RE, Deutsche Bank, Daimler, Allianz, BASF and Deutsche Telekom are among the top gainers in the German DAX index. These stocks are up by between 1 and 2%.

Sartorius is plunging more than 12% to a five-month low after the company said its full-year sales would come in at the lower half of its target range due to a drop in demand.

RWE is down 4.4%, Merck is lower by about 3.7% and HelloFresh is declining 2.6%.

Preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK consumer price inflation accelerated more-than-expected in September, to reach its recent high marked in July, led mainly by rising food prices.

The consumer price index rose 10.1% year-on-year following a 9.9% increase in August. Economists had forecast inflation to rise 10%.

The latest figure is the highest annual CPI inflation rate in the National Statistic series, which began in January 1997, the ONS said. Compared to the previous month, the CPI climbed 0.5%, same as in August. Economists had forecast a 0.4% rise.

Final data from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation rose less than estimated in September, advancing to 9.9% in the month, slightly slower than the flash estimate of 10%. The rate was up from 9.1% in August.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, increased to 4.8% in September from 4.3% a month ago. The rate came in line with the flash estimate published on September 30.

On a monthly basis, the harmonized index of consumer prices gained 1.2% in September.

Eurozone construction output dropped 0.6% month-over-month in August, reversing a 0.3% rise in July, another data from Eurostat showed.