Europe open: Shares muted after Wednesday sell-off

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.04% in early deals, with little corporate news to drive sentiment

Investors are still worried about the pace and strength of monetary policy tightening to deal with rampant inflation globally. US Federal Reserve meeting minutes released on Wednesday didn’t provide much comfort as the central bank said rates would have to be kept at restrictive levels “for some time”.

Norway's central bank was also expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by a higher-than-signalled 50 basis points, as consumer prices continued to surge.

“US markets closed lower after the Fed’s meeting minutes for July showed that policymakers saw little evidence that inflationary pressures are softening stateside,” said Interactive Investor head of investment Victoria Scholar.

“The Federal Open Market Committee appears to be committed to its rate hiking path with the potential for a 50 or 75 basis point rate hike in September followed by a possible slowdown in the pace of rate increases in the following months.”

“Oil prices are trading just above the flatline with WTI and Brent crude straddling the $90 a barrel handle. Expectations for slowing demand as the global economy cools alongside gradual oil production increases from Russia have pushed prices lower in recent sessions. Brent crude is trading in a medium-term descending trendline, down by around 25% since the peak in June.”

In equity news, shares in Swiss pharma company Zur Rose gained almost 10% as the company said it expected core earning to break even next year.

Shares in Amsterdam-based fintech firm Adyen fell to the bottom of the Stoxx as first-half net revenue growth missed analyst estimates.

Geberit fell after reporting a 20% fall in quarterly profit as the Swiss plumbing supplies maker was hit by soaring price rises.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com