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European markets were slightly higher Wednesday as global investors look ahead to the latest U.S. inflation print.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.3% by 9:30 a.m. London time, with almost all sectors trading in the green. Mining stocks added 0.8%, while household goods fell 0.6%.
Shares of Dutch bank ABN Amro fell 6.3% despite reporting a 29% increase in first-quarter net profits. Germany’s Commerzbank also reported a better-than-expected 29% increase in first-quarter net profit, sending its shares up 2.4%.
Meanwhile, Burberry fell 2.7% as its warned of a “challenging” outlook for the first half of this year following a 34% drop in annual operating profit last year. Other luxury stocks fell in tandem, with Kering losing 1.5% and LVMH dipping 1.3%.
April’s consumer price index report is due out during U.S. trading hours on Wednesday and economists expect that it rose 0.4% in April on a month-over-month basis, or 3.4% from 12 months earlier.
Traders are hoping that a return to Federal Reserve rate hikes is largely off the table despite a recent slew of hotter-than-expected inflation prints. On Tuesday, April’s producer price index came in higher than economists’ expectations, dampening expectations that the Fed would begin cutting rates later this year.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated Tuesday that inflation is falling more slowly than expected, likely keeping interest rates elevated for an extended period.
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher overnight, tracking Wall Street gains on Tuesday that saw the Nasdaq Composite index hit a fresh record closing high despite the strong inflation data. U.S. stock futures were little changed overnight.
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