BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Wednesday amid lingering concerns about Middle East tensions and continued weakness in the technology sector. Also, investors digested U.S. inflation data that came in line with expectations and looked ahead to the European Central Bank's policy announcement on Thursday.
Tensions between Iran and the U.S. escalated following the former attacking U.S. bases in Jordan and Bahrain, retaliating to the U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic.
The US said it carried out a series of strikes on Iranian military and surveillance sites in response to the downing of an American helicopter in the Gulf.
The pan European Stoxx 600 edged down by 0.08%. The UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.27%, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.97% and 0.51%, respectively. Switzerland's SMI closed 0.8% up.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed weak.
Belgium, Denmark and Netherlands ended higher, while Ireland, Portugal and Türkiye closed flat.
In the UK market, miners and banks were among the notable losers.
Endeavour Mining shed 4.1%. Fresnillo, Anglo American Plc, Glencore and Antofagasta lost 0.8%-2.5%.
HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered, Natwest Group, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group ended with sharp to moderate losses.
Experian, Mondi, Weir Group, Relx, Pershing Square Holdings, Barratt Redrow, Berkeley Group Holdings, Scottish Mortgage, AstraZeneca and Intertek Group also closed weak.
Shares of travel retailer WHSmith tanked 16.1% after the company cut its annual profit forecast for the second time this year.
Tritax Big Box REIT climbed nearly 5%. Entain, Land Securities, Tesco, Unilever, Admiral Group, Vodafone Group, BT Group, Segro, Associated British Foods, IG Group, Metlen Energy & Metals, Coca-Cola HBC and Reckitt Benckiser posted strong gains.
Imperial Brands, Games Workshop, JD Sports Fashion, BP, Croda International, British Land and British American Tobacco also ended sharply higher.
In the German market, Deutsche Telekom closed up by about 3%. The company released a key software update for a popular router that fixed several bugs.
Zalando, Symrise, Fresenius, Qiagen and Hannover RE gained 1%-2.5%.
Siemens Energy ended 6.5% down, SAP closed lower by about 3.2%. Siemens, Commerzbank, Deutsche Post, BMW, Heidelberg Materials, Porsche Automobil Holding, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Merck, BASF, MTU Aero Engines and Deutsche Bank shed 1%-2.3%.
In the French market, Orange, Veolia Environment, STMicroelectronics and Danone gained 1.5%-2%. Thales, Michelin, TotalEnergies and AXA posted moderate gains.
Unibail Rodamco moved up 1.5%. The company announced a conditional agreement to acquire the remaining 50% stake in Westfield UTC from its joint venture partner. The acquisition consideration of about $705 million will comprise a combination of cash and up to 2.6 million new URW shares.
Edenred tumbled nearly 8%. Stellantis closed 4.2% down. Societe Generale, Schneider Electric, Dassault Systemes, Hermes International, Renault, BNP Paribas, Saint-Gobain, Safran, Legrand, ArcelorMittal and Accor also ended notably lower.
Sanofi drifted down after halting a late-stage trial for an experimental autoimmune treatment.
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