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Investing.com - European stock markets broadly retreated Wednesday, with investors cautious as they digested the region’s economic outlook.
At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the DAX index in Germany dropped 0.1% and the CAC 40 in France slipped 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. gained 0.1%.
The major European indices posted healthy gains on Tuesday, as investors in the region digested the latest eurozone inflation data, which came in as expected, dismissing worries that elevated consumer prices would limit interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank this year.
German industrial orders slumped
The need for the ECB to ease monetary policy significantly in 2025 was illustrated by economic data released earlier Wednesday.
German industrial orders fell 5.4% in November, sapped by a decline in large orders, showing that a recovery in the industrial sector is not in sight.
Additionally, German retail sales fell 0.6%, bursting hopes for a boost from pre-Christmas promotions like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
There is more eurozone inflation data to digest later Wednesday, in the form of November PPI figures, as well as the December consumer confidence release.
Shell trims Q4 gas production outlook
In corporate news, Shell (LON:SHEL) stock fell 1% after the energy giant, the world’s largest trader of liquefied natural gas, trimmed its LNG production outlook for the fourth quarter and said trading results for its chemicals and oil products division are expected to be significantly lower than in the third quarter.
Roche (SIX:RO) will also be in the spotlight Wednesday after the Swiss healthcare giant said it planned to complete its purchase of US biopharmaceutical company Poseida Therapeutics, in a deal valued at around $1.5 billion.
The acquisition, announced in November, is the latest move by Roche to boost its development pipe-line to offset falling oncology sales.
Flutter Entertainment (LON:FLTRF) stock dropped over 3% after the gaming company downgraded its US revenue and profit forecasts for 2024, citing an unprecedented string of favorable results for NFL bettors.
Crude boosted by US inventories draw
Oil prices rose Wednesday, extending a bounce from the prior session as US industry data pointed to a drop in oil inventories, while production by OPEC countries was seen falling.
By 03:05 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) climbed 0.7% to $74.80 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.6% to $77.53 a barrel.
Both contracts were close to their highest levels since mid-October.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute, released on Tuesday, showed that US oil inventories shrank by more than 4 million barrels in the week to January 3, substantially more than expectations for a draw of 250,000 barrels.