BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks lacked direction on Wednesday after it emerged that the United States will keep billions of dollars of tariffs on Chinese goods in place until after the 2020 election.
A preliminary deal is expected to be signed between the U.S. and China later today, but any move to reduce the tariffs will hinge on Beijing's compliance with the terms of a phase-one trade accord.
The benchmark CAC 40 was up 2 points at 6,043 after inching up around 0.1 percent on Tuesday.
In economic releases, France consumer prices accelerated more than initially estimated in December to the highest level in a year, final data from the statistical office Insee showed.
Consumer prices increased 1.5 percent year-on-year in December, faster than the 1 percent rise in November. This was bigger than the initial estimate of 1.4 percent and the fastest since December 2018, when prices advanced 1.6 percent.
This sharp rise was driven by a marked rebound in energy prices, the statistical office said. After falling for two months, energy prices advanced 2.6 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX