Major European Markets Close Mixed

(RTTNews) - The major European markets ended mixed on Wednesday, a day after recording one of their best sessions in nearly a year, as the mood turned cautious ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's minutes later today, and U.S. inflation data, due on Thursday.

Investors also reacted to some dovish comments, and some slightly less hawkish comments from Fed officials.

The pan European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.15%. Germany's DAX climbed 0.24%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.11% and 0.44%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI gained 0.33%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Russia ended higher.

Netherlands, Norway and Turkiye closed weak, while Spain and Sweden ended flat.

In the UK market, JD Sports Fashion, Smith & Nephew, Burberry Group, Carnival, Kingfisher, Royal Mail and Next lost 2 to 4%.

Travis Perkins plunged more than 6% after the building merchant warned its annual profits will be far lower than forecast.

Imperial Brands, Just Eat Takeaway.com, M&G, RightMove, United Utilities, Prudential, Halma, Severn Trent, BAE Systems, Segro, BT, Flutter Entertainment and Land Securities gained 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Fresenius Medical Care tanked 17.5% after Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk said its weight-loss drug showed success in a trial for kidney failure in diabetes patients. Fresenius tumbled nearly 8%.

Zalando ended 2.1% down, Deutsche Boerse lost about 1.7%, while Continental, Covestro, Merck, Qiagen, Siemens Healthineers and Brenntag lost 0.8 to 1.2%.

Vonovia climbed more than 2%. Siemens Energy gained about 1.8%, while Volkswagen, RWE, Siemens, BMW and Biersdorf ended higher by 1 to 1.1%.

In Paris, LVMH dropped more than 6% after it reported lower sales growth in the third quarter in a sign that the post-pandemic luxury boom is waning. Peers Hermes International and Kering also posted sharp losses.

Alstom, Teleperformance, Veolia, Bouygues and Eurofins Scientific lost 1.4 to 2%.

Thales surged about 2.7%. Stellantis, Renault, Vinci, Engie, Unibail Rodamco, Safran, Danone, Air Liquide and Capgemini gained 0.9 to 2%.

In economic news, Euro area consumers' inflation expectations for longer term edged up for the second month in a row in August and they continue to see the rate staying above the target of 2% in the next three years, results of a survey by the European Central Bank showed.

Germany's consumer price inflation eased to the lowest level in just over one-and-a-half years in September, as initially estimated, the latest data from Destatis showed on Wednesday.

The consumer price index rose 4.5% year-on-year in September, slower than the 6.1% rise in August. That was in line with the flash data published on September 28. Further, this was the lowest rate since February 2022, when inflation stood at 4.3%.