Investing.com – European stock markets fell on Wednesday as rising bond yields unnerved investors ahead of key inflation data amid concerns monetary policy tightening will continue for longer.
At 03:05 ET (0705 GMT), German shares were trading down 0.3%, French shares were down 0.3% and UK shares were down 0.1%.
German inflation data to be released
With quarterly earnings season largely over, attention has returned to plans by global central banks to adjust monetary policy based on progress made in containing inflation.
Bond yields rose in the United States, Asia and Europe on concerns that persistent inflation will keep interest rates high for a long time or even spur additional short-term hikes, especially from the US Federal Reserve.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said Tuesday it will take “many more months of positive inflation data” to give him confidence it’s time to cut rates.
The bank is expected to cut interest rates next month, but uncertainty remains about what will happen next.
The latest release is on Friday and is expected to rise 2.5% year-on-year in May from 2.4% in April.
Before then, individual German states are scheduled to release May consumer price data later in the session, showing how the eurozone’s largest economy is coping with inflation.
BHP wants more time over Anglo offer
In corporate news, BHP Group (NYSE:) said on Wednesday it needed more time to engage with takeover target Anglo American (JO:), a week after the London Stock Exchange-listed miner , rejected its takeover bid.
BHP, the world’s largest listed mining group, also proposed a series of measures to allay Anglo’s concerns about the structure of the deal, which includes Anglo splitting up its platinum and iron ore assets in South Africa.
The rival miners had until 1600 GMT Wednesday to reach an agreement after a week-long extension to last week’s deadline.
Oil rose ahead of US inventories data
Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending recent gains on hopes that demand will pick up as the travel-heavy U.S. summer season begins ahead of a meeting of major oil producers to determine future production levels.
By 3:05 a.m. ET, WTI futures were trading 0.5% higher at $80.23 a barrel, with the contract up 0.4% at $84.27 a barrel.
Both benchmark indexes rose more than 1% on Tuesday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively called OPEC+, are due to hold an online session over the weekend and the cartel is expected to extend its current voluntary production cuts of 2.2 million barrels a day into the second half of the year.
The Memorial Day holiday on Monday signals the start of peak demand season in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, boosting market sentiment.
This is expected to fuel the idea of rising demand, with analysts forecasting a 2 million barrel reduction in overall inventories.
Additionally, the price fell 0.1% to $2,355.75 an ounce, with the price little changed at 1.0855.