Europe midday: Stocks mixed as euro bounces on weak US CPI

European stocks are trading on a mixed note, helped by a weaker-than-expected print on consumer prices in the States.

In the background meanwhile, traders were also keeping tabs on events in the Middle East following an Israeli counter-strike against Iranian military assets in Syria.

As of 1511 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was down by 0.37% or 1.46 points to 391.0, alongside a sharp drop for the FTSE Mibtel of 1.24% or 300.42 points to 23,966.31.

The German Dax on the other hand was ahead by 0.24% or 31.30 points at 12,974.78 with the Cac-40 essentially treading water at 5,535.73

Following a lower-than-expected 0.1% rise in 'core' US CPI last month, the yield on benchmark 10-year German bunds was down by two basis points at 0.54%.

Commenting on the possible follow-on effects on oil prices from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK said: "The rise in the oil price, now up over 50% since September last year hasn’t as yet prompted a re-evaluation in this year’s economic forecasts but as can be seen from recent weak consumer data, in Europe, the UK, as well as the US, it could well be starting to have an effect in some of the more recent retail sales numbers.

"Paying more to fill up your vehicle leaves a lot less room for those consumer discretionary items. If oil prices move above $80 a barrel, as seems likely given recent events with the Iran nuclear deal, as well as unrest and upcoming so-called elections in Venezuela, this could well cause further headaches for policymakers, if the global economy were to slow on the back of these price rises."

The flow of economic data meanwhile was on the light side, although Italian industrial production figures for March did surprise to the upside, rising by 1.2% month-on-month (consensus: 0.4%), according to ISTAT.

In parallel, Greece's unemployment rate was reported by ELSTAT to have edged higher to 20.8% in February, from the upwardly-revised reading of 20.7% for January.