European Stocks Close Higher As Soft U.S. Inflation Data Aids Sentiment

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed higher on Wednesday after softer than expected U.S. consumer price inflation data helped ease concerns about the outlook for interest rate.

Investors expect a couple of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year, while awaiting the central bank's monetary policy announcement, due later in the day.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 1.08%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.83%, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 1.42% and 0.97%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI closed 0.78% up.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye all ended higher.

In the UK market, Rentokil Initial soared nearly 14% after activist investor Trian Fund Management acquired a substantial stake in the pest-control company.

St. James's Place gained nearly 5%. Howden Joinery, Persimmon, 3i Group, RightMove, ICG, Diploma, Halma, Kingfisher, RS Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Ashtead, Standard Chartered, Taylor Wimpey, Experian, Barratt Developments, Schrodders, Informa and Unite Group gained 2.4 to 4.2%.

Landore Resources surged 32% after successfully raising £3.683 million through a subscription of new shares.

Legal & General ended down by about 5.5% as its new chief executive set out plans to restructure the business into three core units.

B&M European Value Retail ended 2.4% down. Vodafone Group, Smurfit Kappa Group, BP, Ocado Group and GSK lost 0.6 to 1.6%.

In the German market, HeidelbergCement surged about 4.4%. SAP, Siemens, Siemens Energy, Vonovia, Bayer, MTU Aero Engines, Fresenius Medical Care, Merck, Infineon, Zalando, Fresenius and Adidas gained 2 to 3.5%.

Porsche, Sartorius and Volkswagen ended lower by 1.4 to 1.8%. Rheinmetall, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Commerzbank also closed weak.

In the French market, Schneider Electric climbed about 4.75%. STMicroElectronics gained more than 3%. Legrand, Vinci, Saint-Gobain, Societe Generale, Eurofins Scientific, Air Liquide, Unibail Rodamco, Publicis Groupe, BNP Paribas, Accor, Credit Agricole, Michelin, AXA, Vivendi, Essilor and Hermes International gained 1 to 2.5%.

Orange, Bouygues and Engie declined sharply. Thales, Kering, ArcelorMittal and Sanofi also ended notably lower.

In economic news, the UK economy stagnated in April as growth in services output was offset by falls in both production and construction output, the Office for National Statistics said.

Gross domestic product remained flat on month, as expected, after expanding 0.4% in March. On the production-side, services output was up 0.2%, marking the fourth consecutive expansion.

On the other hand, industrial output fell by more-than-expected 0.9% on month, following a growth of 0.2% in March. Output was forecast to fall marginally by 0.1%.

Germany's consumer price inflation rose to 2.4 percent in May from April's stable growth of 2.2 percent. That was in line with the flash data published earlier. During May, service costs had an upward effect on overall inflation, while price rises were curbed by lower costs for food and energy.

The U.S. Labor Department said its consumer price index came in unchanged in May after rising by 0.3% in April. Economists had expected consumer prices to inch up by 0.1%. The unchanged reading came as a 3.5% nosedive by gasoline prices helped offset a continued increase in prices for shelter.

Core consumer prices rose by 0.2% in May after climbing by 0.3% in April. Core prices were expected to increase by another 0.3%.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 3.3% in May from 3.4% in April. Economists had expected the pace of growth to remain unchanged. The annual rate of core consumer price growth also slowed to 3.4% in May from 3.6% in April. The pace of growth was expected to dip to 3.5%.