(RTTNews) - Despite suffering a mild setback in the final hour, the major European stocks ended higher on Wednesday amid selective buying ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due later in the day.
The mood remained cautious with investors closely following the updates about Omicron variant of the coronavirus, digesting the latest batch of economic data, and looking ahead to monetary policy announcements from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.
With recent data showing inflation at persistently elevated levels, the Fed is widely expected to accelerate its timetable for reducing bond purchases.
Reports suggest the Fed could double the rate it is reducing its asset purchases to $30 billion per month from the $15 billion per month announced at its previous meeting in November. The central bank may also start raising interest rates shortly after bringing its asset purchase program to a halt next year.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.26%. Germany's DAX advanced 0.15% and France's CAC 40 surged up 0.27%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.66%, while Switzerland's SMI gained 0.96%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Turkey closed higher.
Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Spain drifted lower, while Netherlands and Russia ended flat.
In the UK market, DCC climbed 9% and Darktrace surged up 6%, while Ferguson, Segro, Croda International, Sage Group, Experian, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Bunzl, Halma, Aveva Group and St. James Place gained 1 to 2.5%.
Antofagasta, IAG, Rentokil Initial, Next, Whitbread, Rolls-Royce Holdings, JD Sports Fashion, Informa, Associated British Foods, Kingfisher, Vodafone Group, Glencore, Barclays Group, BP, ITV, Rio Tinto and BT Group lost 2 to 5.4%.
Cineworld Group shares plunged nearly 40% after a Canadian court ordered the British cinema operator to pay C$1.24 billion ($965 million) in damages to Canada's Cineplex for abandoning a planned takeover.
In the French market, Hermes International, Veolia, Dassault Systemes, Schneider Electric, STMicroElectronics, LVMH, Capgemini, Air Liquide and Atos gained 1 to 2.5%. Societe Generale and Renault also closed notably higher.
Technip ended lower by about 5.5% and Carrefour shed 5.2%. Worldline and Unibail Rodamco also ended notably lower.
In Germany, Infineon Technologies, RWE, Linde, Daimler, Adidas, SAP, BMW and Siemens closed higher. Zalando, Fresenius Medical Care, MTU Aero Engines, Continental and Bayer lost 1 to 3.2%.
In economic news, U.K. consumer price inflation rose to 5.1% in November from 4.2% in October, official data showed earlier today- standing well above the central bank's 2% target.
This was the biggest rate since September 2011, when inflation stood at 5.2%. The rate was forecast to rise to 4.7%.
Another report showed that factory gate inflation increased at the fastest pace since September 2008. Output price inflation climbed to 9.1% in November from 8.6 percent in the previous month.
France inflation accelerated in November, as initially estimated, driven by the surge in energy prices, final data from the statistical office Insee showed.
Consumer price inflation rose to 2.8% in November from 2.6% in October. This was the fastest since September 2008 and matched the preliminary estimate published on November 30. Consumer prices grew 0.4% on month, the same rate as seen in October, and in line with flash estimate.
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