BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks failed to hold early gains and settled lower on Wednesday, as investors switched their focus to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later in the day.
Stocks moved higher earlier in the day as oil prices slipped amid easing concerns about supplies but turned weak after the commodity pared early losses and moved notably higher amid fresh strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure.
Data showing a 3.4% increase in U.S. producer prices in the month of February weighed on sentiment.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold rates. The central bank's accompanying statement is eyed for clues about future monetary policy moves. The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank are scheduled to make their monetary policy announcements on Thursday.
The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.75%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed lower by 0.94% and Germany's DAX drifted down 0.96%, while France's CAC 40 edged down 0.06%. Switzerland's SMI lost 1.52%.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Türkiye closed weak.
Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Norway and Spain ended higher.
In the UK market, Diploma soared 18%. Shares of the specialist distributor of industrial controls, seals and life sciences products, surged following the company lifting its FY26 guidance. For fiscal 2026, the Group now projects organic revenue growth of 9%, revised from prior guidance of 6%. Operating margin is now expected at approximately 25%, updated form previous guidance of approximately 22.5%.
Standard Chartered moved up 1.65%. Barclays gained about 1.5% after it announced a new strategic partnership with Sage Group.
Weir Group climbed more than 2%. Babcock International, Halma, Spirax Group, IMI, Burberry Group, Easyjet, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Berkeley Group Holdings and Smiths Group also ended notably higher.
Compass Group, 3i Group, Endeavour Mining, Metlen Energy & Metals, Unilever, British American Tobacco, Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, National Grid, Imperial Brands, GSK, Haleon, Severn Trent and Relx lost 2%-4%.
Prudential ended sharply lower despite reporting a 12% rise in annual new business profit, lifting dividend and announcing a $1.3 billion capital return in 2027.
In the German market, SAP, Deutsche Telekom, Symrise, Munich RE, Scout24, Fresenius Medical Care, Hannover Re, Brenntag and E.ON ended down by 2%-3%.
Meal kit company HelloFresh tanked nearly 18% after it reported weaker than expected fourth-quarter core earnings and forecast lower profit in 2026. In fiscal 2025, loss attributable to owners of the Company was 92.6 million euros, narrower than loss of 136.4 million euros last year.
Looking ahead for the 2026 financial year, HelloFresh expects a decrease in revenue on a constant currency basis of around 3 to 6%.
Heidelberg Materials moved up 2.5% following a rating upgrade by Morgan Stanely.
Deutsche Post, Commerzbank and Siemens Energy gained 1.7%-2%.
In the French market, Publicis Groupe, Danone and Pernod Ricard ended down by about 3.7%, 3.4% and 2.3%, respectively.
Engie, Edenred, Veolia Environment, Stellantis, Orange, Kering, Sanofi, Renault, Carrefour, LVMH and Bureau Veritas closed notably lower.
Societe Generale moved up nearly 3%. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole gained about 1.9% and 1.3%, respectively.
Legrand, Thales, TotalEnergies, Accor, Schneider Electric and ArcelorMittal also closed higher.
In economic news, Eurozone inflation increased in February, as initially estimated, driven by faster service sector price growth and moderated energy cost decline, final data from Eurostat showed.
The harmonized index of consumer prices registered an annual increase of 1.9% after rising 1.7% in January. The rate came in line with the estimate published on March 3.
Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco increased to 2.4%, as estimated, from 2.2% a month ago.
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