European Stocks Close Broadly Lower As U.S. Inflation Data Fuels Rate Concerns

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Thursday as data showing a bigger than expected increase in U.S. consumer prices in the month of September raised concerns about interest rates.

Data showing a growth in UK's gross domestic product aided sentiment, and limited markets' downside.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.1%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.32%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.23% and 0.37%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.53%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkiye closed weak.

Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden ended higher.

In the UK market, EasyJet ended nearly 7% down despite the budget airline posting record fourth-quarter profit.

Taylor Wimpey ended lower by about 5%. Fresnillo, Barclays, Persimmon, Croda International, Antofagasta and TUI lost 2 to 3.1%.

BP climbed more than 3%. Hikma Pharmaceuticals, The Sage Group, CRH, Ferguson, Melrose Industries, AstraZeneca, BAE Systems, Royal Dutch Shell and Experian gained 1 to 2%.

In the German market, RWE, E.ON, Zalando, Puma, Siemens Energy, Vonvoia, Continental, Bayer, Siemens, Covestro, MTU Aero Engines and Commerzbank declined 1 to 2%.

Infineon, Hannover Rueck, HeidelbergCement, Fresenius, Munich RE and SAP posted moderate gains.

In Paris, ArcelorMittal dropped more than 4%. Kering ended lower by 2.6%. LVMH, Hermes International, BNP Paribas, WorldLine, Bouygues, Saint Gobain, Alstom and L'Oreal also ended notably lower.

Publicis Groupe surged 4.7%. After reporting improved revenue for Q3, the public relations and adverting company now expects its organic growth to be in the range of 5.5% to 6% for full year 2023 against its previous expectation for 5%.

Thales gained about 2.7% and Edenred climbed nearly 1.5%.

Gross domestic product grew 0.2% in August from July, when the economy contracted by revised 0.6%, the Office for National Statistics reported - matching expectations.

On a yearly basis, monthly GDP advanced 0.5%, in line with estimate. This was faster than the 0.3% growth registered in July.

UK housing market activity remained subdued in September with indicators on demand, sales, instructions and prices all in negative territory, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, or RICS, said on Thursday. The new buyer enquiries came in at -39% in September.

The U.S. Labor Department said its consumer price index climbed by 0.4% in September after increasing by 0.6% in August. Economists had expected consumer prices to rise by 0.3%.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth was unchanged at 3.7%, while the annual rate of core consumer price growth slowed to 4.1% in September from 4.3% in August.

The data has contributed to a rebound by treasury yields, which are regaining ground following a two-day pullback but remain well off their recent sixteen years.