On Wednesday, European stock markets went down because there were signs that growth in France was slowing down. This was right before a very important inflation report for the Eurozone.
By the DAX in Germany was down 0.3%, the CAC 40 in France was down 0.4%, and the FTSE 100 in the United Kingdom was down 0.3%.
Data released earlier on Wednesday showed that French price inflation slowed more than expected in August, going from its highest level since the early 1990s the month before to its lowest level since the beginning of the year.
Related: European stocks recovered in advance of inflation data.
Using the same method as the European Union, the carefully watched consumer price index went up by 6.5%, which is less than the 6.8% increase in July.
Separate statistics showed that French consumer spending dropped 0.8% in July, which was a big change from the 0.1% increase that was seen the month before. This means that the second largest economy in the Eurozone, which has the second highest GDP, spends a lot less on things it doesn’t have to.
The most recent consumer price index for the Eurozone is due out later in the afternoon. This is expected to be the most important news of the day.Inflation in Europe is expected to have hit a record high of 9 percent in August, putting more pressure on the European Central Bank to quickly raise interest rates next month.
Europe’s gas prices have declined from record highs, but are on the rise again as a result of Russia’s second shutdown of the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany in as many months.
Chinese industrial activity decreased for a second consecutive month in August, as COVID-19 lockdowns and a looming power shortage continued to impact economic activity.
In corporate news, Airbus stock declined 1.9% on the announcement that CFO Dominik Asam will depart the firm in 2023 to become CFO of German software giant SAP.
Brunello Cucinelli stock dipped 5.9% following the release of its first-half results, while Ackermans & Van Haaren stock increased 5.9% following the release of its first-half results.
Even though the United States, which uses the most fuel in the world, was showing signs of strong demand, oil prices kept going down on Wednesday.
An industry group, the American Petroleum Institute, said late Tuesday that oil stocks increased by 593,00 barrels last week, which was a surprise.Still, gasoline stocks went down by 3.4 million barrels, which shows that even though prices and interest rates are going up, consumers are still buying a lot of gasoline.
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Even so, oil prices are on track to go down for the third month in a row, which would be the longest losing streak in more than two years. This is mostly because investors expect the global economy to slow down as central banks quickly raise interest rates.
By U.S. crude futures were trading 0.4% lower at $91.27 per barrel, while the Brent contract was trading 0.4% lower at $97.46 per barrel. Tuesday was the largest loss in about a month for both indices, as they both fell approximately 5%.
In addition, gold futures declined 0.2% to $1,732.65 per ounce, while EUR/USD fell 0.1% to 1.0004.
