Europe midday: Weapons makers up on missile attack; Carnival sinks

European stocks slipped further on Wednesday as investigations continued into the origin of a missile strike on Poland overnight that killed two people during a Russian bombardment of Ukraine, with the rising tensions boosting shares in arms manufacturers.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.75% at 1155 GMT, with major bourses all lower. Britain’s FTSE 100 gave away morning gains as the missile crisis dampened sentiment.

US President Joe Biden said it was unlikely that the missile strike on Poland came directly from Russia.

"I don't want to say until we completely investigate. It is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we'll see," Biden said. Later reports suggested the missile was a Ukrainian defensive weapon that had landed on a Polish farm.

The news lifted weapons makers like BAE, Thales, Leonardo and Dassault. On the flip side budget airlines with routes to eastern Europe, such as Hungary-based Wizz Air were sold off.

In the UK, data showed consumer price inflation rose 11.1% in October year-on-year, up from 10.1% in September and the highest rate since 1991. Most analysts had been expecting CPI of around 10.7%.

The rate was pushed higher by higher gas and electricity costs - despite the introduction of the Energy Price Guarantee - and rising food prices.

Shares in Carnival sank after the cruise operator announced plans to raise $1bn with convertible senior notes to make principal payments on debt and for general corporate purposes.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com