BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were mostly higher on Wednesday, with French markets outperforming their regional peers, after LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, unexpectedly returned to sales growth in the third quarter.
In economic releases, France's consumer price inflation accelerated as initially estimated in September to the highest level in eight months, the latest data from the statistical office INSEE showed.
The consumer price index climbed 1.2 percent year-over-year in September, faster than the 1.0 percent rise in the previous month. That was in line with the flash data published on September 30.
Further, this was the highest inflation rate since January, when prices rose 1.7 percent.
Trading later in the day may be influenced by the release of Eurozone industrial production data, earnings from Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, and speeches by Federal Reserve officials Waller and Bostic.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 jumped 0.7 percent to 568.25 after falling 0.4 percent on Tuesday.
The German DAX gained 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 surged 2.5 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.3 percent.
Denmark-based Asetek soared 17 percent after it announced a long-term agreement with an undisclosed PC gaming brand for the delivery of high-end liquid cooling products based on its Ingrid technology platform.
Electrical products distributor Rexel rallied 2.2 percent in Paris after reporting higher third-quarter sales.
LVMH soared 14 percent after reporting better-than-expected sales in the third quarter, supported by an improvement in Chinese demand. Peers such as L'Oreal, Hermes and Richemont were up 3-8 percent.
Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding surged 3.4 percent after its orders beat analyst expectations in the third quarter.
British recruiter PageGroup soared 6.2 percent as it reported a resilient third-quarter performance despite market uncertainty.
British Land jumped 5 percent. The property developers upgraded its forecasts for full year earnings per share growth after reporting growth in half-year profit and in portfolio and rental values.
Aurubis slumped 6.4 percent after key shareholder Salzgitter sold 500 million euros ($582 million) worth of bonds that can be exchanged for 7.6% of the German copper producer's stock.
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