European Shares Mostly Higher As UK Economy Returns To Modest Growth

(RTTNews) - European stocks were flat to slightly higher on Wednesday as investors digested mixed earnings results and looked ahead to the release of more U.S. data this week for clues on when the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates.

Meanwhile, new data showed earlier today that German wholesale prices continued to decline in February.

Wholesale prices dropped 3.0 percent on a yearly basis, sharper than the 2.7 percent fall in January.

Elsewhere, data showed the U.K. economy grew modestly in January, after falling into a technical recession in the second half of last year.

GDP posted an expansion of 0.2 percent in January, reversing a 0.1 percent fall in December, driven by services and construction output.

The pan European STOXX 600 was marginally higher at 506.97 after climbing 1 percent in the previous session.

France's CAC 40 rose 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1 percent while the German DAX traded with a negative bias.

Sandoz, the global leader in generic and biosimilar medicines, declined 1.6 percent after core net income for fiscal year 2023 dropped to $953 million from last year's $1.22 billion.

Spanish clothing company Inditex jumped 4.4 percent after reporting higher profit before tax for the full year, primarily helped by growth in sales.

Advanced Medical Solutions rallied 3 percent in London after it has agreed to the proposed acquisition of Peters Surgical, a global provider of specialty surgical sutures, mechanical haemostasis, and internal cyanoacrylate devices.

Allianz Technology Trust added about 1 percent after announcing turnaround financial results for fiscal 2023.

Hochschild Mining fell nearly 4 percent after it slipped to a loss in FY23. Balfour Beatty soared 8 percent on share buyback news.

German automaker Volkswagen dropped half a percent despite reporting robust financial results in a challenging environment in 2023.

Sportswear giant Adidas fell 2.4 percent after reporting an annual loss for 2023.

Zalando soared more than 13 percent. After reporting a decline in annual sales, the online fashion retailer said it expects to return to growth in 2024.

E.ON, Europe's biggest operator of energy networks, surged 5.4 percent after its 2024 profit guidance beat expectations.