European stocks traded slightly lower Wednesday, with global markets focused on upcoming U.S. inflation data.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.1% in early deals, with the majority of sectors in negative territory.
Shares of Just Eat Takeaway stock soared 20% shortly after the open Wednesday after the company said it had struck a deal to sell its U.S. unit Grubhub to Wonder for $650 million. Siemens Energy was also a best performer on the index, its shares rocketing 19.1% Wednesday morning after the German energy company upgraded its mid-term financial targets.
Shares of ABN Amro opened almost 1% lower after the Dutch lender posted a 9% fall in quarterly net profit, compared to a year earlier. Shares of Allianz were up 0.5% at the open after the financial services group beat expectations with a 22% rise in third-quarter net profit.
Investors’ main focus on Wednesday will be October’s inflation data out of the U.S., a key factor when it comes to the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut or maintain interest rates.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are expecting the consumer price index to increase 0.2% for the month, which would put the 12-month rate at 2.6%.
Asia-Pacific stock markets were trading lower overnight, tracking losses on Wall Street Tuesday, with both the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 snapping five-day winning streaks. U.S. stock futures ticked lower Tuesday night.
– CNBC’s Hakyung Kim contributed to this markets report.
