European Stocks Close Higher On Encouraging Economic Data

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed on a firm note on Wednesday, continuing to react positively to U.S. consumer price inflation data that helped ease concerns about Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.

Data showing a sharp drop in U.K. consumer price inflation, and strong industrial output and retail sales reports from China, further bolstered sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.42%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.62% up, Germany's DAX surged 0.86% and France's CAC 40 gained 0.33%, while Switzerland's SMI edged down 0.07%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden closed higher.

Denmark, Iceland, Poland and Portugal ended weak, while Russia and Turkiye closed flat.

In the UK market, Experian rallied 7.5% after the credit data firm reported an increase in half-yearly profit.

St. James's Place climbed 6.5%. IAG, TUI, Carnival, Glencore, Just Eat Takeaway.com, Anglo American Plc, EasyJet and ICP gained 3 to 4.5%.

Scottish Mortgage, Antofagasta, Burberry Group, ITV, Fresnillo, Prudential, Mondi, Natwest Group, Lloyds Banking, Ds Smith, 3i, and HSBC Holdings gained 1.8 to 2.5%.

CRH drifted down 2.2%. Tesco, Diageo, Pearson, Flutter Entertainment, Johnson Matthey, Centrica, Entain and J Sainsbury ended lower by 1 to 2%.

In the German market, Infineon soared nearly 9.5% after the semiconductor company proposed higher demand after posting increased earnings for the fourth quarter.

Siemens Energy climbed 9% after securing 7.5 billion euros ($8.15 billion) in project-related state guarantees from the German government.

Zalando, Daimler Truck Holding, Continental, Sartorius, BMW, Siemens, Volkswagen, Commerzbank, Mercedes-Benz, Puma, Bayer, Merck and Covestro gained 1 to 3%.

HeidelbergCement ended nearly 2% down. Vonovia ended 1.7% down, and E.ON shed about 1%.

In Paris, STMicroElectronics surged 5.3%. Saint Gobain, WorldLine, Renault, ArcelorMittal and Eurofins Scientific gained 2 to 3%.

Teleperformance, LVMH, Vinci, Edenred, Capgemini, Hermes International, Stellantis, Societe Generale and Legrand ended higher by 1 to 1.8%.

Alstom tanked 15%. The train manufacturer plans simplification of operational setup, including around 1,500 job cuts, representing close to 10% of total S&A positions.

Danone, Sanofi, Essilor, Pernod Ricard and Credit Agricole lost 0.8 to 1.2%.

In the Swiss market, shares of eye-care company Alcon declined sharply after Q3 sales missed estimates.

In economic news, UK consumer price inflation eased sharply to a two-year low in October, growing 4.6% year-on-year, slower than the 6.7% rise in the previous month, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Inflation was also weaker than the expected 4.8%.

Month-on-month, the consumer price index remained flat after a 0.5% gain a month ago. Prices were expected to rise 0.1%.

Steep declines in Germany's wholesale prices continued in October with selling prices dropping at the fastest pace in over three years, preliminary figures from the statistical office Destatis showed. The wholesale price index decreased 4.2% year-on-year after a 4.1% fall in September.

France's inflation softened to a 20-month low in October as initially estimated, reflecting the strong slowdown in energy price growth, final data from the statistical office INSEE showed. Consumer price inflation softened to 4% in October from 4.9% in September. The rate reached the lowest since February 2022.

Core inflation came in at 4.2%, which was down from 4.6% a month ago and hit the weakest since June 2022.

France's unemployment rate increased for the second straight quarter in the three months ending in September, the statistical office INSEE reported. The ILO unemployment rate rose to 7.4% in the third quarter from 7.2% in the previous quarter.

Eurozone Industrial output dropped 1.1% month-on-month in September, in contrast to the 0.6% increase in the previous month, data from Eurostat showed. Output was forecast to decline by 1%.

The euro area trade surplus decreased to EUR 9.2 billion in September from EUR 11.1 billion in the previous month, data from Eurostat showed. Exports decreased 9.7% from a month ago, while imports grew 0.5%.

The euro area economy is expected to recover only moderately after a challenging year during which growth was damped by weak consumption and subdued foreign demand, the European Commission said in its Autumn Forecast, released Wednesday. The EU forecast the 20-nation currency bloc to grow by a modest 0.6% in 2023, which is less than the 0.8% estimated previously.