Europe close: Stocks end on mixed note but at best levels of the day
European stocks finished on a mixed note on Wednesday, albeit at their best levels of the day, as investors digested earnings from Pearson, ASML and Burberry and Eurozone inflation data.
The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index edged higher by 0.18% to 363.07, Germany’s DAX added 0.51% to 11,599.39 and France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.13% to 4,853.40.
Meanwhile, oil prices pushed lower, with West Texas Intermediate falling 1.25% to $51.83 a barrel.
Over in Brussels, the European Commission asked Italy to reduce its budget deficit by €3.4bn to avoid an excessive deficit procedure.
On the data front, Eurozone consumer prices were up 1.1% on the year in December, versus a 0.6% rise in November and matching an earlier estimate. On the month, consumer prices increased 0.5%.
Core inflation – excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco – edged up to 0.9% from 0.8% the month before, also in-line with previous estimates.
In the EU-28 group of nations, annual inflation came in at 1.2% in December, up from 0.6% the month before.
On the corporate front, Dutch semiconductor supplier ASML rallied after better-than-expected fourth-quarter reports, although Danish biotechnology firm Novozymes slipped after its own.
Meanwhile, fashion house Burberry edged higher after it reported 4% growth in underlying retail sales for the third quarter, boosted by a return to growth for the Asia-Pacific region but with the Americas still in decline.
On the downside, however, education publisher Pearson – which has already issued a string of profit warnings in recent years – tanked after it cut its profit forecast for this year and said the dividend will be lower.
Deutsche Bank ticked higher after agreeing to pay a $7.2bn fine to the US Department of Justice for misleading investors in its sale of residential mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis.