Investing.com – European stock markets fell on Tuesday, giving up some of the previous session’s strong gains ahead of the release of key euro zone inflation data.
At 03:10 ET (0810 GMT), the DAX index in Germany was down 0.1%, the CAC 40 in France was down 0.3% and the UK was down 0.7%.
Europe’s biggest bourses posted strong gains on Monday, with 40 up 2.2% and 1.5%, helped by strong 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 denial of the report in a social media post.
Consumer inflation in the eurozone is expected
On Tuesday, attention turns to the release of the latest eurozone inflation data – the latest regional price data ahead of the next European Central Bank meeting on January 30.
Investors now expect the ECB to cut interest rates by around 100 basis points in the first half of 2025, and any signs of a further decline in inflation will give the ECB the opportunity to ease policy further to support the struggling economy.
However, data already released from Spain and Germany showed faster-than-expected inflation growth, suggesting that any surprise in the eurozone data could be positive.
The December index is expected to rise 2.4% year-on-year in December, accelerating from 2.2% in November.
Next raises annual forecast
In corporate news, Next PLC (LON:) shares rose 3.5% after the British clothing retailer raised its full-year profit forecast, expecting to post a £1bn profit for the first time this year, seeing unexpectedly strong sales over abroad during the holiday period. period.
Shares of French foodservice company Sodexo (EPA:) fell more than 6% after the French catering company reported organic revenue growth of nearly 5% in the first quarter, missing market expectations as strong growth in India, Brazil and Australia was offset by a decrease in activity. in continental Europe.
Oil falls lower
Oil prices fell on Tuesday, continuing to erase last week’s gains amid optimism about stronger policy support to revive economic growth in China, the world’s largest crude importer.
By 3:10 a.m. ET, U.S. crude oil (WTI) futures were down 0.4% at $73.27 a barrel and the contract was down 0.3% at $76.04 a barrel.
Both benchmark indexes fell on Monday after rising for five straight days last week and hit their highest levels since October on Friday.
However, losses are likely to be limited given ongoing concerns about dwindling supplies from Russia and Iran amid sanctions.