Stoxx 600, DAX, FTSE, CAC
LONDON — European stocks closed slightly lower on Wednesday as investors assessed the latest trade news, corporate earnings and inflation data.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended the session down 0.05%. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.39% while France’s CAC 40 was 0.15% higher, even with the country facing widespread protests as its new prime minister was sworn in.
The muted market performance came despite strong gains on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 index at a record high, after a softer-than-expected inflation print cemented expectations for the Federal Reserve to resume interest rate cuts this month.
A series of recent data releases showing signs of a slowdown in the labor market have raised the possibility of the central bank opting for a bigger half-percentage point cut rather than the expected quarter-point reduction.
In Europe, shares of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk closed 3.7% higher after the company announced it would cut around 9,000 jobs.
Elsewhere, Zara owner Inditex gained 6.5% after the company posted its first-half earnings. While the firm’s second-quarter sales were weaker than expected, Inditex said its new Autumn/Winter collections had been “very well received” by customers, with constant currency sales between August 1 and Sept. 7 jumping 9% year-on-year.
In a note sent to clients after the earnings release, Citi strategists said Intidex’ report demonstrated a “meaningful acceleration in current trading.”
“The momentum has improved materially into the first 5wks of [the third quarter],” they said.
European investors also monitored overnight reports that U.S. President Donald Trump asked the EU to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% over the countries’ Russia oil purchases. The move seeks to turn up the heat on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, but risks further destabilizing global trade relations.
Asia-Pacific markets rose overnight, as investors assessed August inflation data out of China. Consumer prices in the mainland fell 0.4% year-over-year in August, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Wednesday, compared with expectations of a 0.2% drop by economists polled by Reuters.
— CNBC’s Nur Hikmah Md Ali and Jeff Cox contributed to this market report.
