European shares opened lower on Wednesday as the rally of recent days ran out of steam.
The pan-European Stoxx was down 0.36, with all major European bourses in the red. London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.41% as official data showed a slightly higher-than-expected rise in January inflation.
Data released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that consumer price inflation rose to 0.7% in January from 0.6% in December, with food and household goods the main drivers. Analysts had been expecting a nudge lower to 0.5%.
US futures indicates a muted opening later in the day as investors eye retail sales readings across the pond with the standard and core numbers expected to improve from December’s downturn, each estimated at 1.1%.
In equity news shares in luxury goods maker Kering slumped 7.8% after sales at its Gucci brand fell more than expected.
Kering, which also owns the Saint Laurent brand, slumped 8.2% as revenue for the whole group fell 8.2% in the fourth quarter.
Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown plunged 7% in response to Tuesday’s post-close announcement that co-founder and ardent Brexiteer Peter Hargreaves had offloaded 18m shares in the company.
Shares in British American Tobacco fell 5.69% as the prospect of mid-single figure earnings growth for 2021 countered a 10% rise in 2020 profit.
The Lucky Strike and Camel maker reported a 10% rise in pre-tax profits to £8.7bn in 2020. On an underlying basis, pre-tax profits lifted 1% to £10.2bn.
On the upside, shares in Swedish cloud computing services provider Sinch soared as the company agreed to buy US communications company Inteliquent for $1.14bn in cash.
Sinch shares have nearly tripled over the past year on the back of the work-from-home trend prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The company said it expected the transaction to close in the second half of the year.
Rio Tinto shares were higher after the mining giant delivered a record dividend to shareholders as soaring iron ore prices and demand from China drove full-year profits sharply higher. Miners more generally were on the rise, with Antofagasta, BHP and Anglo American also higher.
