Europe open: Shares make cautious start ahead of US CPI

European shares were slightly higher at the opening on Thursday as investors took a cautious stance ahead of US January inflation data and its impact on the timing for a rate rise next month.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.05% in early deals after a surge on Wednesday. US headline CPI is expected to have increased more than 7% on an annualised basis.

“This week’s rise in US yields in the aftermath of last Friday’s payrolls report, would appear to suggest that bond markets have already made up their minds about today’s January CPI number, and that it is expected to be a strong number,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

“The strength of last week’s payrolls numbers has certainly shifted thinking towards the possibility of a 50 basis point rate move by the Federal Reserve in March, with a strong CPI number today only serving to reinforce that narrative.”

“Today’s range of expectations for US CPI for January has the upper end at 7.6%, while the consensus has come down to 7.2% from a week ago, when it was at 7.3%.”

In another busy day of equity news, Credit Suisse shares fell after posting a $2.2 bln quarterly loss, hurt by provisions to settle its investment bank's legal costs and a slowdown in business for its trading and wealth management divisions.

Shares in consumer goods conglomerate Unilever fell as the company warned on higher costs and ruled out any big acquisitions for the foreseeable future after its failed bid for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer health arm.

AstraZeneca shares were up as the company lifted its dividend.

Finnish food packaging company Huhtamaki topped the Stoxx with a rise of more than 7.5% as its annual results pleased investors.

Shares of Siemens jumped 7.3% after the company said it was seeing "extraordinary" order intake from its customers, while French spirits group Pernod Ricard rose as it forecast strong sales growth in its 2022 fiscal year.

On the downside, fast-food delivery firm Delivery Hero slumped more than 14% despite posting higher fourth-quarter sales and gross merchandise value.