Europe: Shares subdued as markets look to Fed decision for cues

EUROPEAN shares were subdued on Wednesday as investors broadly stayed away from risky bets ahead of the Federal Reserve’s much-anticipated interest rate decision and policy outlook.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 inched 0.1 per cent lower.

Germany’ benchmark DAX and France’s CAC-40 slipped 0.2 per cent each after scaling intraday record highs on Tuesday.

“There’s quite a lot of risk event going on with the ECB next and we are just seeing caution ahead of that,” said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

Investors have fully priced in a pause from the Fed decision later in the day, with Tuesday’s US inflation data doing little to alter rate cut bets for next year.

The focus will be on Chair Jerome Powell’s commentary and the central bank’s short-term rates projection for clues on the timing of policy easing.

“Powell would want to avoid all this speculation about rate cuts and focus more on the evolution of the economy... he’s going to refrain from sounding too happy with the progress so far,” Capital.com’s Hathorn added.

Policy decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England on Thursday are next in line, with both expected to hold rates steady.

BASF and Arkema gained 4.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively, after UBS upgraded their ratings, pushing the chemical sector to the top of the gainers’ list, up 1.1 per cent.

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The healthcare sector climbed 0.9 per cent, with Novo Nordisk bouncing back 1.6 per cent after Tuesday’s fall on rival Eli Lilly’s read-across.

Entain jumped 5.1 per cent after the betting and gaming firm said CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen was stepping down from the group with immediate effect.

Weighing on the Stoxx 600, the telecommunications sector lost 1.3 per cent, with Vodafone down 2.9 per cent.

Nel dropped 9.2 per cent to the bottom of Stoxx 600 after the Norwegian hydrogen company said its client cancelled an order, which an analyst says reflects poor market conditions for the industry.

Storebrand shed 4.2 per cent after the Norwegian insurer said it would be challenging to reach its 2023 profit ambition. REUTERS