© Reuters
Investing.com – European stock markets traded mixed on Tuesday as investors awaited the start of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s crucial two-day policy meeting and the release of further euro zone inflation data.
At 03:50 ET (07:50 GMT), Germany’s index was trading 0.1% lower, France’s was up 0.1% and the UK’s was 0.1% higher.
Fed meeting calls for caution
Trading is taking place in tight limits on Tuesday as investors cautiously await news from Washington as Federal Reserve policymakers begin discussing their response to the U.S. economic outlook.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates steady in a range of 5.25% to 5.50% through the end of Wednesday’s meeting, after raising them at 11 of its last 12 meetings to cool inflation.
However, markets are not entirely sure whether the Fed will call it quits now or whether it will raise rates again this year, with inflation still above its 2% target.
Final Eurozone CPI data for August is due
Back in Europe, the euro zone’s final inflation figures for August will be released later in the session and are expected to confirm they rose 0.6% month-on-month, up 5.3%.
This is still well above the European Central Bank’s medium-term inflation target of 2%, which is why the central bank raised the interest rate last week. However, without fluctuating energy and food prices, the figure is likely to fall from 5.5% per year to 5.3%.
It raised its deposit rate to a record high of 4% last week, but also signaled a pause in the rate-hiking cycle as policymakers assess the impact of multiple rate hikes on the region’s economy.
Officials will need until March to be sure that last week’s increase was the last and further rate hikes cannot yet be ruled out, Slovak politician Peter Kazimir said on Monday.
Kingfisher issues profit warning
In the corporate sector, shares of Kingfisher (LON:) fell almost 6% after the home improvement chain issued a profit warning, citing disappointing results from its French and Polish operations.
Ocado (LON:) shares rose 3% after the online grocer reported a strong rise in sales in its retail division and opened its new distribution center in Luton to reduce operating costs.
Naked Wines (LON:) shares plunged 8.6% after the online wine retailer posted a steep loss and warned it would remain a going concern.
Crude oil gains due to weak US shale production
Oil prices continued to rise sharply on Tuesday, rising for the fourth straight session on further supply concerns following the release of a weak U.S. shale production forecast.
U.S. oil production from major shale oil-producing regions is expected to fall for the third straight month in October to the lowest level since May 2023, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its monthly drilling productivity report on Monday.
That has heightened concerns about a significant supply deficit this year due to prolonged production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
At 3:50 a.m. ET, futures were trading 0.7% higher at $91.23 a barrel, while the contract was up 0.5% at $94.90.
Prices have risen for three weeks in a row and are now at around 10-month highs for both benchmarks.
Additionally, the price rose 0.1% to $1,955.55/ounce, while it traded 0.1% lower at 1.0682.
Source : www.investing.com