On Wednesday, European stocks struggled for direction as FTSE underperformed other major indexes on the surge of United Kingdom’s inflation.
London’s FTSE All-Share index tumbled 0.27% or 11.25 points to $4,173.54 per share. At the same time, the FTSE 100 index lowered 0.34% or 25.16 points to $7,301.81 per share.
Accordingly, the UK consumer price index (CPI) rose to 4.20% year-over-year from the previous rate of 3.10%. It also surpassed the market estimate of 3.90%.
Subsequently, these numbers cemented expectations that the Bank of England would become the first major central bank to raise rates amid the pandemic.
Meanwhile, investors also looked forward to the equivalent inflation data from the Eurozone today.
In contrast to London, German shares posted gains on European stocks. The MDAX Performance index climbed 0.32% or 114.99 points to $36,315.32 per share.
Likewise, the benchmark DAX 40 strengthened 0.12% or 19.98 points to $16,267.84 per share.
In Paris, the CAC 40 index elevated 0.02% or 1.10 points to $7,153.70 per share.
Then, the pan-European STOXX 600 index widened 0.07% or 0.34 points to $489.61 per share.
Consequently, the EURO STOXX 50 index jumped 0.02% or 0.73 points to $4,402.27 per share.
In corporate news, German automaker Volkswagen shed 1.26% or 2.69 points to $210.61 per share.
This downturn came after it announced plans to double staff numbers at its charging and energy division.
Additionally, Finnish telecommunications company Nokia edged up 0.68% or 0.04 points to $5.65 per share.
Furthermore, this is in line with its plans in launching a cloud-based software subscription service.
Asia-Pacific Market Down as European Stocks Mixed
Meanwhile, shares in the Asia-Pacific region mostly traded lower as European stocks mixed.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index dwindled 0.40% or 119.79 points to $29,688.33 per share.
Also, the broader TOPIX index reduced 0.61% or 12.49 points to $2,038.34 per share.
In China, the Shenzhen Component index improved 0.67% or 97.21 points to $14,711.18 per share.
Then, the Shanghai Composite index increased 0.44% or 15.58 points to $3,537.37 per share.
Likewise, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plummeted 0.25% or 63.70 points to $25,650.08 per share.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI pared 1.16% or 34.79 points, to $2,962.42 per share.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index fluctuated 0.68% or 50.50 points to $7,369.90 per share.
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