Major European Markets Close Slightly Weak

(RTTNews) - The major European markets closed slightly weak on Wednesday, as worries about geopolitical tensions, and looming interest rate hikes amid rising inflation rendered the mood cautious.

Russia announced on Tuesday that some units participating in military exercises around Ukraine were returning to their bass. However, NATO and the United States said they had yet to see any evidence of a de-escalation that could avert war.

Investors, digesting the latest batch of economic data from the region, also reacted to reports about Kyvi blaming Russia for a series of cyberattacks, and looked ahead to the release of the Federal Reserve's January meeting due later in the day amid increasing chances that the Fed will raise interest rates by 50 basis points in March.

Euro zone government bond yields rose, with Germany's 10-year government bond yield hitting a new high since December 2018, after two European Central Bank officials made the case for ending the ECB's bond-buying scheme.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.04%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.07% down, Germany's DAX declined 0.28% and France's CAC 40 shed 0.21%, while Switzerland's SMI ended 0.08% up.

Most of the other markets in Europe closed on the positive side. Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended higher.

Denmark, Poland and Turkey edged up marginally, while Czech Republic, Ireland and Sweden closed weak.

In the UK market, Polymetal International climbed more than 5% and Fresnillo gained 3.7%. Shell, SSE, Anglo American Plc, BP, BT Group, Land Securities, British Land, Segro, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Rolls-Royce Holdings gained 1 to 2%.

Indivior surged nearly 10%. After posting a better-than-expected rise in annual sales, the pharmaceutical firm said it is exploring a secondary listing in the United States, its biggest market.

Royal Mail, Diageo, Compass Group, Electrocomponents, JD Sports Fashion, RightMove, Ocado Group and Tesco declined 1.4 to 2.7%.

In the German market, Continental declined more than 4%. Siemens Healthineers and Deutsche Post both ended lower by about 2.5%. Sartorius, Porsche Automobil, BMW, Zalando and Merck ended lower by 1 to 1.7%.

MTU Aero Engines climbed nearly 5%. The German aircraft engine manufacturer lifted dividend after reporting that its fourth-quarter net income surged to 41 million euros from last year's 6 million euros.

Fresenius, Symrise, Fresenius Medical Care and HeidelbergCement gained 1.7 to 2.1%. Brenntag and Daimler also ended notably lower.

In Paris, CapGemini, Societe Generale, Pernod Ricard, Publicis Groupe, Credit Agricole, Teleperformance, Michelin, Essilor and Faurecia shed 1 to 2.5%.

Air Liquide rallied more than 2.5% after forecasting a bigger profit for 2022.

Unibail Rodamco and Technip gained more than 4.5%. ArcelorMittal, Renault, Air Liquide and WorldLine gained 2 to 3.1%. Vinci and Valeo also closed on a firm note.

Ericsson plunged more than 14% after the Swedish telecoms giant said an internal investigation in 2019 found serious breaches of its compliance rules in Iraq.

Tobacco group Swedish Match gained nearly 4% after reporting a rise in quarterly profits.

In economic releases, data showed U.K. consumer price inflation accelerated at the fastest pace in nearly 30 years in January, boosting bets for a hike in interest rates for a third meeting in a row.

Eurozone industrial production growth halved in December, data released by Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

Industrial output grew 1.2% on a monthly basis, following November's 2.4% increase. Nonetheless, this was faster than the economists' forecast of 0.5%.

The slowdown was driven by the weakness in energy and durable consumer goods production.

Year-on-year, industrial production was up 1.6%, in contrast to the 1.4% decline in the previous month. Industrial production in the EU27 grew 0.7% on month, taking the annual growth to 2.5%.

Consumer price inflation rose slightly to 5.5% in January from 5.4% in December. The rate was forecast to remain unchanged at 5.4%.