Major European Markets Pare Early Gains, Close On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - Despite spending much of the day's session in positive territory, the major European markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday as the mood turned a bit cautious past mid afternoon with investors looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

Investors digested the latest batch of economic data from the region, and corporate earnings updates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.03%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.14% down, and France's CAC 40 edged lower by 0.07%. Germany's DAX advanced 0.35%, while Switzerland's SMI dropped 0.75%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Poland and Turkiye closed weak.

Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended higher.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rate by 25 basis points. The accompanying statement and Fed Chief Jerome Powell's comments are in focus for clarity about the central bank's future interest rate hikes.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are scheduled to announce their interest rate decisions tomorrow.

In the UK market, Segro, Smiths Group, 3I Group, Ocado Group, RS Group, Johnson Matthey, CRH, Smurfit Kappa Group, WPP, Mondia, Berkeley Group Holdings, Standard Chartered, Taylor Wimpey, B&M European Value Retail and Associated British Foods gained 1 to 2.5%.

Halma climbed higher after announcing it has acquired a manufacturer of fire detection products in a £22m deal.

AstraZeneca ended nearly 3% down. Vodafone drifted down by about 2% after Q3 revenue growth slowed.

Anglo American Plc, ABRDN, Vodafone Group, Compass Group, Rio Tinto, Haleon, Burberry Group, Fresnillo and Reckitt Benckiser drifted down 1 to 2.3%.

In Paris, Renault rallied more than 3%. Publicis Groupe and STMicroElectronics gained about 2.5% and 2.3%, respectively.

Teleperformance, Capgemini, WorldLine, Bouygues and Engie also ended notably higher.

L'Oreal, Unibail Rodamco, TotalEnergies, Kering and Hermes International lost 1 to 1.6%.

In the German market, Deutsche Post, Mercedes-Benz and BMW gained 2 to 2.2%.

Sartorius, Daimler, Deutsche Boerse, Infineon Technologies and Volkswagen advanced 1.2 to 2%.

Hannover Rueck tanked nearly 6% after announcing it has acquired a manufacturer of fire detection products in a £22m deal.

Merck ended lower by about 4.6%. Munich RE and Siemens Energy also ended notably lower.

In Swiss market, Novartis AG shares declined 2.7%. The drug major reported sharply lower profit in its fourth quarter on lower sales and the absence of prior year's hefty Roche income.

In European economic news, Eurozone manufacturing PMI has been finalized at 48.8 in January, a five-month high and up from December's 47.8.

Eurozone consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in eight months in January, flash data from Eurostat showed on Wednesday. Inflation slowed more-than-expected to 8.5% in January from 9.2% in December. Prices were expected to climb 9%. This was the lowest rate since May 2022.

Separate data published by the British Retail Consortium showed that U.K. shop price inflation hit a record high in January as retailers offered fewer discounts amid rising input costs,

The BRC- NielsenIQ shop price index rose 8% on a yearly basis in January following a 7.3% gain in December.

The house price index rose 1.1% year-on-year following a 2.8% increase in December, survey results from the Nationwide Building Society showed Wednesday. Economists had forecast a 1.9% gain.