European Stocks Recover From Early Losses, Close Mixed

(RTTNews) - European stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as investors digested the latest batch of economic data from the region, earnings updates from a few top U.S. companies, and weighed interest rate prospects after somewhat mixed comments from Federal Reserve officials.

Investors alo looked ahead to the release of the Fed's Beige book.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.1%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended lower by 0.13%, Germany's DAX edged up 0.08% and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.21% to a new high, while Switzerland's SMI edged up 0.06%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia and Sweden climbed higher.

Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Turkiye ended weak, while Czech Republic and Poland closed flat.

In the UK market, British American Tobacco gained about 3.4%. Smith & Nephew, Flutter Entertainment, Hiscox, Admiral Group, Coca-Cola HBC, Imperial Brands, Aviva and Mondi gained 1 to 2.2%.

Ocado Group and Halma both shed about 2.2%. JD Sports Fashion, Kingfisher, BT Group, BP, Scottish Mortgage, Rio Tinto, Anglo American Plc, Land Securities, Antofagasta, Vodafone Group and Melrose Industries lost 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Commerzbank rallied 4.5%. Brenntag, Hannover Rueck, Allianz and RWE gained 1.2 to 1.7%.

Infineon Technologies lost about 2.5%. Daimler Truck Holding, MTU Aero Engines, Qiagen, Volkswagen and SAP ended lower by 0.6 to 1.2%.

In Paris, AXA, Essilor, Credit Agricole, Vinci, Bouygues, Engie, Societe Generale, LVMH and WorldLine gained 0.8 to 1.6%.

ArcelorMittal, Vivendi, Teleperformance, Capgemini, Dassault Sytemes and TotalEnergies lost 1 to 1.7%.

UK consumer prices increased more than expected in March, logging an annual increase of 10.1%, remaining stubbornly high on rising food prices, and strengthening the call for a quarter point interest rate hike at the next Bank of England policy meeting in May.

Meanwhile, Eurozone inflation eased to a 13-month low in March, as initially estimated, driven by the fall in energy prices, final data from Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

The harmonized index of consumer prices registered an annual growth of 6.9%, slower than the 8.5% rise in February. A year earlier, inflation was 7.4%.

Eurozone construction output grew for the second straight month in February, rising 2.3% on a monthly basis, data from Eurostat showed. However, that was slower than the 3.8% increase posted in January.

A report from the European Central Bank said the eeuro area current account surplus increased to a 17-month high in February driven by goods trade.

The current account surplus increased to EUR 24 billion in February from EUR 19 billion in the previous month, the report showed. This was the highest level since September 2021.

New car sales in the European Union rose 28.8% year-on-year in March following an 11.5% growth in February, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA said.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said Tuesday that he favored continued interest-rate hikes to counter persistent inflation. Bullard said recession fears are overblown.

"Wall Street's very engaged in the idea there's going to be a recession in six months or something, but that isn't really the way you would read an expansion like this," Bullard told Reuters in an interview.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atalanta President Raphael Bostic said he favors raising interest rates one more time than holding them above 5% for some time to curb inflation that remains too high.