Europe open: Upbeat Wall St, fall in UK inflation fails to inspire Stoxx

The ebullient close on Wall Street and a fall in UK inflation to 2% for the first time since 2021 failed to inspire European markets on Wednesday with shares opening flat.

The pan-regional benchmark Stoxx 600 index had barely moved the needle at 514 points after gains in the previous session. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.22% to 8,172, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.10 to 7,621 and Germany’s DAX 0.05% to 18,115.

Annual UK consumer price inflation fell to 2% in May from 2.3% in April, in line with expectations, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics.

It marked the first time inflation has hit the Bank of England’s target since July 2021 and leaves the door open for a potential rate cut from the BoE this summer. Inflation peaked at 11.1% in October 2022, hitting its highest level since 1981.

The BoE meets on Thursday with no change in policy expected.

Traders expect a quieter back end to the trading session with US markets closed for the Juneteenth holiday.

In equity news, the head of Spain's antitrust watchdog said on Tuesday the government could place extra conditions on BBVA's €12bn takeover bid for Sabadell. Shares in both banks were fell on the news.

Spectris slumped by 10% as the Precision instrumentation and controls group said full-year profits would miss current market forecasts as a result of weaker-than-expected demand at its lab equipment division in the first half.

UK homebuilder Berkeley fell despite lifting its earnings outlook by 5% for the current fiscal year.

Vodafone gained as the telecoms operator said it had raised around $1.83bn from the sale of a stake in India's Indus Towers that it said would be used to repay some of its lenders.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com