CAC 40 Marginally Higher After Inflation Data

(RTTNews) - French stocks were marginally higher in cautious trade on Wednesday after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that the central bank is unlikely to raise its key interest rate to tackle elevated inflation.

After producer price data for April surprised on the upside, traders looked ahead to key U.S. CPI data due later in the day for clues on the Federal Reserve's next steps.

Meanwhile, France's consumer price inflation eased further to the lowest level in just over two-and-a-half years, as initially estimated in April, the latest data from the statistical office INSEE showed.

The consumer price index posted an annual increase of 2.2 percent in April, slightly slower than the 2.3 percent rise in March.

That was in line with the flash data published on April 30. Harmonised inflation remained steady at 2.4 percent in April.

The benchmark CAC 40 was down 9 points, or 0.1 percent, at 8,217 after closing up 0.2 percent the previous day.