BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European markets fluctuated between small gains and losses throughout Wednesday's session and ended the day with mixed results. Traders were in a cautious mood ahead of today's announcement from the Federal Reserve.
The Fed is widely expected to hike interest rates when it concludes its 2-day policy meeting later today. Traders will be paying close attention to the accompanying statement and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell for any clues regarding the outlook for future rate hikes.
The Bank of England will also announce its policy decision on Thursday.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.16 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.33 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.19 percent.
The DAX of Germany climbed 0.01 percent, but the CAC 40 of France fell 0.24 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.32 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 0.72 percent.
In Frankfurt, BMW rose 0.08 percent. The company reported that its fourth-quarter Group earnings before tax increased significantly to 2.17 billion euros, and group revenues rose 4.3 percent from last year to around 26 billion euros.
Fuchs Petrolub shares fell 1.68 percent. The company engaged in the lubricant business said that it expects increase in sales revenues from 3 percent to 6 percent in 2018 financial year based largely on organic volume growth combined with changes in the price and product mix.
In Paris, luxury goods maker Hermes rallied 2.43 percent after it posted record profitability for 2017 and increased its dividend.
Video game publisher Ubisoft jumped 3.76 percent after Vivendi sold its entire stake in the company for 2 billion euros ($2.45 billion).
In London, Kingfisher sank 10.69 percent. The home improvement retailer warned over 'uncertain' trading after reporting a decline in statutory pre-tax profit for year ended 31 January 2018.
Oilfield services provider Petrofac gained 2.87 percent after winning a $200 million contract in India.
Adecco Group lost 1.54 percent in Zurich. The employment services group said that the strong cash generation of its underlying businesses underpins its program of strategic investments.
The UK jobless rate in the three months to January was the joint lowest since 1975 and the employment rate rose to a record high, latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday.
The ILO unemployment rate eased to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent in the three months to December. Economists had expected it remain unchanged at 4.4 percent. The rate was 4.3 percent in the August to October 2017 period.
UK public sector net borrowing excluding state-owned banks grew in February, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed on Wednesday. The PSNB ex-banks rose by GBP 2.5 billion to GBP 1.3 billion from a year ago, when there was a surplus of GBP 1.2 billion. Economists had predicted GBP 1.8 billion borrowing for February.
Existing home sales in the U.S. increased by much more than anticipated in the month of February, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday. NAR said existing home sales jumped by 3.0 percent to an annual rate of 5.54 million in February from a rate of 5.38 million in January. Economists had expected existing home sales to rise by 0.5 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX