European markets are anticipated to open lower on Wednesday as traders evaluate the regional economic outlook. Specifically, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 is expected to decrease by 4 points to 8,242, Germany’s DAX by 40 points to 20,308, France’s CAC by 22 points to 7,477, and Italy’s FTSE MIB by 83 points to 34,922. Traders are closely monitoring consumer confidence and economic sentiment data across Europe, with Shell also set to release its fourth-quarter update.
In Asia-Pacific, markets showed mixed performance while U.S. stock futures rose after a significant decline in Big Tech stocks, which had prompted a sell-off on Wall Street. European markets had closed higher on Tuesday, as investors reacted to new inflation data revealing that euro zone consumer prices rose to 2.4% in December, up from 2.2% in November, which met expectations according to a Reuters poll. This inflation increase was attributed to elevated services costs and rising energy prices, indicating ongoing economic pressures within the region.
