LONDON — European markets were muted on Wednesday, tracking global sentiment as investors await a key meeting of central bankers.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 inched 0.15% higher in early trade, with travel and leisure stocks adding 1.4% to lead gains while utilities slid 0.5%.
Shares in Asia-Pacific were similarly subdued in Wednesday’s trading session, while U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat open on Wall Street after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 notched record highs on Tuesday.
Focus for global investors this week remains on the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium, which takes place virtually on Thursday, as policymakers could detail their plans for tapering the central bank’s $120 billion a month bond-buying program. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver a speech on Friday.
Global equities have been propped up so far this week by easing fears that the Fed would taper imminently and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Back in Europe, German business morale fell in August. The Ifo Institute’s business climate index came in at 99.4, below a Reuters consensus forecast of 100.4 and down from a revised 100.7 in July.
In the U.K., retailers reported the sharpest increase in spending for almost seven years in August but inventories fell to the lowest levels on record, exerting pressure on prices, data from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed on Tuesday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will give a news conference Wednesday to document the latest developments in the Covid-19 pandemic.
In terms of individual share price movement, Swedish radiation therapy equipment manufacturer Elekta slid more than 6% to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 after missing first-quarter operating profit expectations.
At the top of the index, Stadler Rail climbed 4.9% after increasing first-half net profit and confirming its full-year outlook.
Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.