Major European Markets Close Lower Ahead Of Fed Policy Announcement

(RTTNews) - The major European markets closed weak on Wednesday with investors digesting earnings updates, the latest batch of economic data from the region, and looking ahead to the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England's monetary policy announcements.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, the accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

Optimism about a March rate cut has faded recently, with many economists now suggesting the Fed will wait until May to begin lowering rates.

Disappointing earnings updates from U.S. technology majors Alphabet, AMD and Microsoft weighed on sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.47%. Germany's DAX drifted down 0.4%, and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 0.27%, while Switzerland's SMI closed 0.96% down.

Other markets in Europe ended on a mixed note. Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden ended weak.

Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Turkiye closed higher, while Austria settled flat.

In the UK market, WPP, Marks & Spencer, M&G, B&M European Value Retail, Vodafone, Next, Smurfit Kappa Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Tesco, Airtel Africa, Prudential and Ashtead ended lower by 1.6 to 3%.

Croda International surged nearly 5%. GlaxoSmithKline, Antofagasta, Severn Trent, St. James's Place, Barratt Developments, Entain, Smith & Nephew and Beazley gained 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Bayer ended lower by nearly 4%. Zalando closed more than 2% down. Adidas, Fresenius, Siemens, Infineon, HeidelbergCement, MTU Aero Engines and SAP lost 1 to 2%.

Volkswagen, Vonovia, Sartorius and Porsche gained 2 to 3%. BMW climbed 1.8%, while E.ON and Mercedes-Benz both gained a little over 1%.

In Paris, Airbus Group, Teleperformance, Thales, LVMH and Edenred lost 1 to 1.6%, while Stellantis, Renault, ArcelorMittal, Sanofi and Alstom gained 0.5 to 1.4%.

Data from Destatis showed Germany's import prices were down 8.5% year-over-year in December, slightly slower than the 9% slump seen a month ago.

Germany's consumer price inflation softened more-than-expected in January to the lowest level in just over two-and-a-half years, provisional data from Destatis showed. The consumer price index registered an annual increase of 2.9% in January, following a 3.7% rise in December.

Germany's unemployment declined unexpectedly in January, coming in at 5.8%, figures from the Federal Labor Agency revealed. The rate was forecast to remain unchanged at December's initially estimated rate of 5.9%.

France's consumer price inflation hit a two-year low in January, slowing to 3.1% from 3.7% in December, provisional data from the statistical office INSEE showed.

UK house prices increased more than expected at the start of the year, rising by 0.7% in January after staying flat in December, the Nationwide Building Society said in its report.