Europe open: Stocks fall but Inditex bucks trend after results

European stocks fell in early trade on Wednesday following heavy losses on Wall Street, as a higher-than-expected US inflation print continued to dent sentiment.

At 0850 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 index and France’s CAC 40 were both down 0.5%, while Germany’s DAX was 0.4% lower.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "European markets have opened lower caught up in the negative sentiment that has taken hold across global markets.

"Hotter-than-expected US inflation figures out yesterday prompted heavy selling on Wall Street, which suffered its biggest decline since June 2020 at the height of the pandemic. The S&P 500 slumped 4.3% while the tech-heavy interest rate sensitive Nasdaq Composite plunged 5.2%. Among the biggest losers on the day were Meta and Nvidia which fell by more than 9% while Netflix shed 7.8%. Negative momentum carried forward into the overnight session with a sea of red across Asian markets."

Figures released on Tuesday by the US Labor Department showed that inflation eased to 8.3% on the year in August from 8.5% in July, but came in above consensus forecasts of 8.1%. The data fuelled expectations of another big rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

In equity markets, Zara owner Inditex jumped nearly 5% after it reported a rise in first-half sales and profits.