Ahead of important US consumer inflation data, European stocks remain stable
European stock markets showed limited movement on Wednesday as investors turned their attention to upcoming U.S. inflation data and continued to digest additional quarterly corporate earnings.
As of 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), Germany's DAX index remained mostly unchanged, France's CAC 40 dipped by 0.2%, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up by 0.1%.
Focus on U.S. Inflation Data
With limited economic data releases in Europe on Wednesday, investor focus is expected to shift to October’s U.S. inflation figures, a key factor that could influence the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates in the world's largest economy.
Expectations are that the annual consumer price index (CPI) will show an increase to 2.6% in October from 2.4% the previous month, while the core inflation measure, excluding volatile food and energy costs, is predicted to remain steady at 3.3%.
On Tuesday, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari cautioned that rising inflation might lead the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged. Following his comments, market expectations for a 25 basis-point rate cut in December dropped, with CME FedWatch showing a 64.2% probability, down from 66.7% the day before.
Later this week, the focus will also include U.S. October producer prices on Thursday and retail sales data on Friday. In Europe, key U.K. GDP data is scheduled for release.
Just Eat Takeaway Surges on Grubhub Sale
In corporate news, Just Eat Takeaway (AS) shares surged 18% after the European meal delivery giant announced a $650 million sale of its U.S. subsidiary Grubhub to Wonder. The Amsterdam-listed company had sought to divest from Chicago-based Grubhub, acquired in a $7.3 billion all-stock deal in 2020, since early 2022.
Meanwhile, ABN Amro (AS) shares slipped 0.3% despite exceeding third-quarter profit estimates due to robust net interest income growth and strong fee performance.
Siemens Energy (ETR) gained 15% after opting not to propose a dividend for the 2024 fiscal year, citing constraints tied to obtaining government-backed project guarantees last year.
Oil Prices Recover Some Losses
Crude oil prices edged higher on Wednesday, partially reversing recent declines but remaining near two-week lows following a downgrade in global demand growth forecasts by OPEC.
By 03:05 ET, Brent crude rose 0.3% to $72.08 per barrel, while U.S. crude (WTI) also climbed 0.3%, trading at $68.30 per barrel. Earlier in the week, both benchmarks fell over 5% after OPEC reduced its forecast for global oil demand growth for 2024 and 2025, primarily due to weakening demand from China, the world's largest oil importer.
The International Energy Agency is expected to release an updated forecast on Thursday.
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