European stocks are expected to open largely flat to lower on Wednesday as global markets gear up for key data releases including the latest reading of U.S. inflation.
London’s FTSE is seen opening 3 points higher at 6,942, Germany’s DAX down 16 points at 15,072, France’s CAC 40 down 4 points at 6,246 and Italy’s FTSE MIB down 29 points at 24,137, according to IG. Europe has a busy day of earnings ahead of it with releases from EDF, Allianz, Bayer, Commerzbank, TUI Group and RWE.
Investors will be keeping an eye on key U.S. inflation data on Wednesday, with many having grown worried that a rapid rise in inflation may force central banks to raise interest rates and implement other tightening measures. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said any uptick in inflation should be transitory, however.
April’s consumer price index in the U.S. is expected to grow 0.2% from the previous month, representing a 3.6% jump since last year, according to Dow Jones estimates. This jump in the headline consumer price index would be the largest since Sept. 2011. The data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly down on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious over growing inflation worries. China released data on Tuesday that showed factory gate prices rose at the fastest rate in three and a half years in April while consumer prices rose at a more modest pace.
U.S. stock futures declined in early trading Wednesday after the Dow’s worst day since February. Dow futures fell more than 200 points while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures also slipped. On Tuesday, technology stocks fell but eventually recovered, spurring selling in the broader market.
