European Shares Slide In Lackluster Trade

(RTTNews) - European stocks were subdued on Friday, with heighted geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Fed rate uncertainty and mixed earnings results weighing on investor sentiment.

On a light day on the economic front, Destatis reported that Germany's consumer price inflation softened to the lowest level in just over two-and-a-half years, as initially estimated in January.

The consumer price index registered an annual increase of 2.9 percent in January, slower than the 3.7 percent rise in December. That was in line with the flash data published on January 31.

Further, this was the weakest inflation rate since June 2021, when prices had risen 2.4 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices moved up 0.2 percent in January, confirming the flash data.

Markets eagerly await annual revisions to the seasonal adjustment factors for U.S. consumer price data later in the day for further direction.

The pan European STOXX 600 was marginally lower at 485.12 after finishing marginally lower the previous day.

The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were little changed while France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3 percent.

Austrian sensor maker Ams-OSRAM surged 14 percent after reporting Q4 sales in line with market expectations.

Bellway fell about 1 percent. The British home builder reported weak housing revenue in its first half, reflecting lower completions and pricing.

Victrex shed 2.3 percent. The polymers group said it had a "soft start" in its first quarter and therefore making full-year guidance could be tricky.

Tesco gained 1 percent. The groceries and general merchandise retailer announced a deal to sell certain banking operations to lending major Barclays.

Orange dropped about 1 percent. The French telecoms firm reported that its loss before taxation for fiscal year 2023 was 2.2 million euros compared to profit of 81.6 million euros in the prior year.

Hermes International soared 5 percent. The luxury design house announced plans to raise prices after posting solid Q4 results.

L'Oreal slumped 7.3 percent after reporting lower-than-expected fourth-quarter sales.

Video games group Ubisoft jumped 15 percent after beating its sales targets in Q3. German medical technology company Carl Zeiss Meditec soared 9.3 percent despite posting a decline in Q1 EBIT earnings.

Consumer electronic firm Ceconomy lost 3.7 percent after sales for the first quarter dropped slightly to 7.0 billion euros.