Europe close: Stocks little changed despite 'dovish' remarks from ECB and Fed
European shares finished on a mixed note on Wednesday as US and eurozone central bankers maintained dovish positions on interest rates and British retailer Marks & Spencer pleased despite posting a hefty annual loss.
"Weaker bank stocks have dragged the FTSE 100 lower on a day of little news, with European markets similarly affected by some late-month ennui," explained IG senior market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
"Overall investors appear to be fairly content with the outlook for policy, and inflation concerns have certainly receded for the time being. This will mean that further gains in bank stocks based off hopes of rising yields will be cancelled out for the time being, resulting in banks joining in the list of stocks that have struggled to find a catalyst to keep rising."
The pan-European Stoxx ended the day flat at 445.22, as Germany's Dax dipped 0.09% to 15,450.72 while the Cac-40 was up by 0.02% to 6,391.60.
Overnight, at least three US Federal Reserve officials reaffirmed a dovish monetary policy stance, while European Central Bank board member Fabio Panetta told Nikkei that the ECB should not reduce the pace of asset purchases from next month.
"So, we have the Fed carefully guiding markets – ‘don't worry about inflation but at the same time we are going to be exiting full emergency mode’. This offers a bit of a muddy picture for the market that’s reflected in the price action showing no real conviction," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.
UK retailer Marks & Spencer jumped almost 9% despite reporting a slump in full-year profit as the Covid pandemic hammered clothing sales. The company said it planned to close 30 stores and expected a return to profitability this year.
Shares in British Land fell 4% as the company's annual profit fell by more than one-third and the value of its properties dropped by more than 10% as the Covid-19 crisis took its toll on the commercial landlord.
Underlying profit for the year to the end of March dropped 34.3% to £201m as British Land made provisions for non-payment of rent. British Land said it collected 83% of rent due for the year comprising 99% of office rent and 71% of retail
French food company Danone slipped 1.8% after a downgrade to ‘sell’ by Berenberg.
Inspection, product testing and certification group Intertek was down despite posting year-to-date like-for-like revenue growth of 2.7% and saying it was on track to deliver its 2021 revenue targets.