(RTTNews) – European shares finished mixed on Wednesday, with investors largely taking cautious steps, digesting regional economic data and looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement.
The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged. Investors’ attention will be on the accompanying statement and forecasts for indications that the central bank may be planning to cut rates next year.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.06%. The German DAX and the French CAC 40 ended 0.15% and 0.16% lower respectively. The British FTSE 100 rose 0.08% and the Swiss SMI climbed 0.34%.
The markets in Europe, among others, closed weakly in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Turkiye.
Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Russia closed higher, while Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Norway closed flat.
In the UK market, RightMove fell by around 4.7%. TUI fell by almost 3% and Vodafone Group ended with a loss of 2.4%. Just Eat Takeaway.com, Auto Trader Group, WPP, Prudential, IHG, JD Sports Fashion Group, IAG and Legal & General lost 1 to 2%.
Entain rose 5.3% on news that company CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen is stepping down with immediate effect after coming under fire from investors over a dwindling share price and a series of costly acquisitions.
AstraZeneca fell 2.5%. Segro, Land Securities, Antofagasta, British Land Company, Rentokil Initial, Fresnillo, BAE Systems, Melrose Industries, Centrica, Pennon, CRH, Compass Group, Croda International and Hiscox gained 1 to 2%.
On the German market, Siemens Energy fell by 3.3%. Merck and Mercedes-Benz lost 1.4% and 1.1% respectively. Zalando, BMW, Deutsche Stock Exchange, Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Bank also ended significantly lower.
BASF gained about 4.5% after a rating upgrade by UBS. Covestro, Hannover Rueck, MTU Aero Engines, Continental, E.ON, Brenntag and Symrise advanced 1 to 2%.
On the French market, Carrefour ended 4.4% lower. WorldLine, Alstom, Orange and Renault lost 2.4 to 3.4%. Safran, AXA and Publicis Groupe also ended noticeably lower.
Essilor climbed about 1.2%. Thales, Hermes International, Engie, Sanofi and Unibail Rodamco ended 0.5 to 1% higher.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the UK economy shrank in October, due to widespread declines in the services, manufacturing and construction sectors. GDP unexpectedly contracted by 0.3% in October, partially offsetting September’s 0.2% growth. Analysts expected GDP to remain flat this month.
On an annual basis, GDP grew by 0.3%, but much weaker than September’s 1.3% growth and economists’ forecast of 0.6%.
Industrial production in the euro zone fell for the second month in a row in October, due to weaker demand for industrial goods, official data showed.
Industrial production fell 0.7% month on month in October, slower than the 1% decline in September, Eurostat reported. Production was forecast to decline by 0.3%.
The Swiss economy is expected to grow well below average in 2024 as weaker momentum in the eurozone hurts Swiss exports and higher financing costs dampen investment, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said. In the economic forecast, the SECO expert group says that gross domestic product will grow by 1.3% this year.
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