European Shares Drift Lower With Trump's Tax Bill In Focus

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell from nine-week highs on Wednesday as investors fretted about the lack of progress on trade deal and closely monitored discussions on the U.S. budget bill and federal deficit.

Sentiment was also spooked after data showed U.K. consumer price inflation accelerated more than expected in April.

The consumer price index rose 3.5 percent year-on-year in April, faster than the 2.6 percent increase in March. Inflation was expected to rise to 3.3 percent.

On a monthly basis, the CPI advanced at a faster pace of 1.2 percent after rising 0.3 percent in March. This was also faster than the forecast of 1.1 percent.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.3 percent to 552.65 after climbing 0.7 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX slipped 0.1 percent, France's CAC 40 declined 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was marginally lower.

Swiss bank Julius Baer slumped 4.4 percent after saying it has been hit with another large loan loss.

Drug firm AstraZeneca rose about 1 percent after successfully completing the acquisition of EsoBiotec.

Close Brothers fell 2.8 percent after the loan book decreased 0.9 percent in the third quarter and 3.5 percent year-to-date to 9.7 billion pounds in its banking division.

Severn Trent advanced 1.7 percent. The water utility delivered strong annual profit growth and said it expects EPS to double by 2028.

Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion plummeted 7.5 percent after reporting lower annual profit.

Marks & Spencer fell over 1 percent after it projected a 300-million-pound loss due to a recent cyberattack.

German chipmaker Infineon rose 1.4 percent after the company said it would develop a new power delivery chip with Nvidia.