European stocks traded lower on Wednesday as investors awaited US data on inflation in order to assess the risk of further tightening of monetary policy.
Analysts expect the data to show a 0.6% increase in consumer prices in October from the previous month, with the annual rise climbing close to 6% which is the highest level in the last 30 years.
The structural index, which does not include food and energy, is expected to show a monthly increase of 0.4% and a jump of 4.3% from the corresponding period last year.
Consumer price data follow yesterday’s producer price announcements which confirmed analysts’ estimates. Producer prices increased 0.6% on a monthly basis, while since October 2020 they recorded a jump of 8.6%, showing the highest increase in the last 11 years.
On the board, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index recorded small losses of 0.1% at 482.12 points.
The German DAX is down 0.1% at 16,025.10 points, the French CAC 40 is down 0.2% at 7,026.35 points, while the British FTSE 100 is up 0.5% at 7,309.36 points.
In the region, the Italian FTSE MIB recorded small gains of 0.2%, while the Spanish IBEX 35 strengthened 0.5%.
The rally of inflation in recent months has kept in the forefront the concern about the “resilience” of the central banks to maintain the particularly facilitative direction of monetary policy.
Data released today in China showed that producer prices climbed to a 26-year high last month.
The data of the German statistical service for October also showed a strong rise in prices. In particular, prices increased by 4.5% on the basis of national standards and by 4.6% on a harmonized basis, according to Destatis.
In business developments, the German Infineon lost its initial profits and is currently falling 1.2% in the aftermath of its results for the last quarter. On the other hand, the share of the British Marks & Spencer reacted with an 11% rally after the company announced that it was revising its forecasts for the whole year.
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