European Markets Finish Mixed On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The major European markets finished mixed and little changed on Tuesday, giving away early gains following the release of closely watched U.S. inflation data.

Overall inflation was in line with expectations, although core CPI slowed less than expected - probably dashing hopes that the Federal Reserve might further ease the pace of its interest rate hikes.

Germany's DAX dipped 16.78 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 15,380.56, while the FTSE in London advanced 6.25 points or 0.08 percent to close at 7,953.85 and the CAC 40 in France rose 5.22 points or 0.07 percent to end at 7,208.59.

In Germany, Deutsche Bank jumped 1.60 percent, while Volkswagen rallied 1.42 percent, Covestro advanced 0.95 percent, Deutsche Telekom gained 0.86 percent, Siemens sank 0.78 percent, Siemens Energy shed 0.55 percent, Daimler Truck Holding lost 0.42 percent, Deutsche Post rose 0.39 percent, Siemens Healthineers slid 0.31 percent and Infineon Technologies perked 0.14 percent.

In London, Vodafone surged 3.43 percent, while Persimmon tumbled 1.85 percent, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust slumped 1.20 percent, Rolls-Royce Holdings dropped 1.00 percent, Prudential sank 0.77 percent, Shell advanced 0.61 percent, Rightmove lost 0.44 percent, St. James Place fell 0.36 percent, British American Tobacco rose 0.31 percent and Compass Group perked 0.18 percent.

In France, Orange rallied 2.31 percent, while Carrefour spiked 2.02 percent, Thales surged 1.96 percent, BNP Paribas jumped 1.67 percent, Schneider Electric tumbled 1.29 percent, Sanofi advanced 0.52 percent, L'Oreal sank 0.49 percent, Societe Generale collected 0.23 percent, Vivendi slumped 0.22 percent, Credit Agricole rose 0.17 percent and Danone perked 0.16 percent.

In economic news, the Euro area logged a quarterly expansion of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, which was unchanged from the previous estimate released on January 31, the statistical office Eurostat said. The pace of growth slowed from 0.9 percent in the second quarter and 0.3 percent in the third quarter.

Germany's wholesale prices increased at the slowest pace in twenty-one months in January, Destatis reported Tuesday. The wholesale price index rose 10.6 percent year-on-year in December, slower than the 12.8 percent rise in November. This was the slowest rate since April 2021, when prices had grown 9.7 percent.

The Netherlands' economy returned to expansion in the fourth quarter after contracting in the previous quarter, preliminary data from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday. Gross domestic product advanced 0.6 percent sequentially in the December quarter, reversing a 0.2 percent fall in the third quarter, which was the first contraction since early 2021.

The UK unemployment rate remained unchanged and wages grew more than expected in the fourth quarter, persuading the hawkish members of the Bank of England rate-setting committee to keep hiking the interest rate. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the ILO unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in the three months to December, unchanged from the preceding period, and in line with expectations.