European Shares Mixed; London Stocks Rise After Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks traded mixed on Tuesday as investors exercised caution ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data that might influence the outlook for rates.

The U.S. producer price inflation report is likely to be in the spotlight today along with Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks during a moderate discussion with De Nederlandsche Bank President Klaas Knot.

The consumer price inflation report is due on Wednesday and economists expect prices to climb by 0.4 percent in April, matching the increase seen in March.

Closer home, final data from Destatis revealed that Germany's consumer price inflation stood at 2.2 percent in April, the same as in March. That was in line with the flash data published on April 29.

The current 2.2 percent inflation rate is the lowest since May 2021. On the other hand, EU harmonized inflation rose slightly to 2.4 percent from 2.3 percent, as estimated.

The headline German ZEW Economic Sentiment Index improved to 47.1 in May from 42.9 in April.

The British pound steadied as data showed the U.K. job market is cooling.

Average earnings in the U.K. grew better than expected in March and the jobless rate rose slightly, while the fall in employment was less than expected and vacancies continued to decline, giving more evidence of a cooling labor market to Bank of England that is preparing to lower interest rates soon.

Wages excluding bonuses grew 6.0 percent year-on-year in the January to March period, preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

Bank of England (BoE) Chief Economist Huw Pill said today that it's "not unreasonable" for the central bank to consider rate cuts over the summer.

The pan European STOXX 600 was marginally higher at 520.87 after ending flat with a positive bias the previous day.

The German DAX slipped 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 was marginally lower while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent.

Mining giant Anglo American fell 2.7 percent in London after it unveiled plans to offload several assets as part of a turnaround effort.

Vodafone rallied 3.1 percent as the telecom operator reported a 2.2 percent rise in organic earnings for 2024.

Gambling giant Flutter Entertainment fell nearly 2 percent on reporting a wider quarterly net loss.

Veolia shares rallied 2.8 percent in Paris after the French waste and water management company met first-quarter core profit expectations and announced it had bagged a $320 million water technology contract for a desalination plant in the United Arab Emirates.

Delivery Hero shares jumped 21 percent after Uber Technologies agreed to acquire the German company's foodpanda business in Taiwan for $950 million in cash.

Arms manufacturer Rheinmetall slumped 3.5 percent after missing sales and profit forecasts in the first quarter.

Reinsurer Hannover Re lost more than 3 percent despite posting solid results in the first quarter and confirming its 2024 guidance.