European stocks slip ahead of inflation data; Next lifts guidance

European stock markets fell Tuesday, handing back some of the previous session’s healthy gains ahead of the release of key eurozone inflation data.

At 03:10 ET (08:10 GMT), the DAX index in Germany dropped 0.1%, the CAC 40 in France slipped 0.3% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. fell 0.7%.

The major bourses across Europe posted strong gains on Monday, with France's CAC 40 up 2.2% and Germany's DAX 1.5% higher, helped by hefty gains in the auto sector.

This followed a press report that US President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plan may not be as extreme as feared. However, sentiment has since been hit by Trump’s rebuttal of the report in a social media post. Eurozone consumer inflation due

Attention turns Tuesday to the release of the latest inflation data out of the eurozone - the last data on regional prices before the European Central Bank's next meeting on Jan. 30. 

Investors are currently looking for the ECB to ease interest rates by around 100 basis points in the first half of 2025, and any signs that inflation is easing further would give the ECB scope to loosen policy more to support a struggling economy.

However, data released already from Spain and Germany showed faster-than-expected pickups in inflation, suggesting any surprise in the eurozone data could be on the upside.

The eurozone consumer inflation index for December is expected to have risen 2.4% in December on an annual basis, speeding up from 2.2% in November.   Next lifts full-year guidance

In corporate news, Next PLC (LON:NXT ) stock rose 3.5% after the UK clothing retailer raised its full-year profit guidance, expecting to generate a £1 billion profit for the first time this year, seeing unexpectedly strong overseas sales over the festive period.

French food caterer Sodexo (EPA:EXHO ) stock fell over 6% after the French food caterer reported a near 5% rise in its first-quarter organic revenue, missing market expectations, as robust growth in India, Brazil and Australia was offset by decreased activity in Continental Europe. Crude slips lower 

Oil prices fell Tuesday, continuing to hand back the gains generated last week on optimism of more policy support to revive economic growth in China, the world’s largest crude importer.

By 03:10 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) dropped 0.4% to $73.27 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.3% to $76.04 a barrel.

Both benchmarks slid on Monday, after rising for five days in a row last week to settle at their highest levels since October on Friday.

However, losses are likely to be limited given ongoing concerns over tightening Russian and Iranian supply amid sanctions.

 

Source: Investing.com