Major European Markets Close Weak As War Concerns, Oil's Rise Weigh

FRANKFURT, March 12 (Bernama-dpa-AFX) -- After snapping a three-day losing streak on Tuesday, the major European markets turned weak on Wednesday as concerns about deepening tensions in the West Asia and higher oil prices hurt sentiment, prompting investors to stay away from riskier assets, reported dpa-AFX.

Benchmark Brent crude futures moved up nearly 6 per cent and WTI contracts surged more than 5.5 per cent as the fighting in Iran continued to rage on, with the US and Israel exchanging air strikes with Iran across the West Asia.

Some disappointing earnings updates and fading hopes of further monetary easing by central banks weighed as well.

Economists are of the view that major central banks across the world are likely to maintain their interest rates or even announce hikes, if required.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.59 per cent. The UK's FTSE 100 closed 0.56 per cent down, Germany's DAX slid 1.37 per cent and France's CAC 40 drifted down 0.19 per cent. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.82 per cent down. 

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed weak. Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and Turkey ended higher, while the Netherlands closed flat.

In economic news, Germany's consumer price index posted an annual growth of 1.9 per cent in February, in line with the flash estimate, final data from Destatis showed.

EU harmonised inflation softened slightly to 2 per cent in February from 2.1 per cent in January. Data showed that food prices moved up at a slower pace of 1.1 per cent after climbing 2.1 per cent in January. 

Meanwhile, energy prices dropped 1.9 per cent, following a 1.7 per cent decrease in January. Services prices were up 3.2 per cent in February.

Excluding food and energy, core inflation slowed to 2.3 per cent from 2.5 per cent in January. 

--BERNAMA-dpa-AFX