France, Germany shares hit record highs, but give up gains after U.S CPI (updated)

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG

12/12/2023 10:02

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click  LIVE/  or type LIVE/ in a news window)

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      UK pay growth slows more than expected
    

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      Novo Nordisk slips after study on Lilly's weight-loss drug
 
    

        * 
      Carl Zeiss Meditec jumps on positive forecast
    

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      STOXX 600 slips 0.2%
    

  
 (Updated at 1650 GMT)
    By Ankika Biswas, Khushi Singh and Bansari Mayur Kamdar
       Dec 12 (Reuters) - France and Germany's benchmark stock
indexes briefly touched record highs on Tuesday after data
showed U.S. consumer prices unexpectedly rose last month, adding
to nervousness in a week packed with interest rate decisions by
major central banks.
    The pan-European STOXX 600  .STOXX  slipped 0.2% by the
close, as traders pulled back bets the Federal Reserve could
start interest rate cuts as soon as March after the U.S.
consumer prices report.
    France's CAC-40 index  .FCHI  eased 0.1% after rising as
much as 0.4% and hitting an all-time high of 7,582.47 points
intraday. 
    Germany's DAX  .GDAXI  gained as much as 0.3% and touched a
record high of 16,837.18 points, before closing the session
flat. 
    Also weighing on the market, British wage growth slowed by
the most in almost two years, though pay is probably still
rising too fast for the Bank of England to relax its stance
against cutting interest rates.
   "I'm expecting all the central banks to remind markets they
could still hike if they want to," said Giles Coghlan, chief
market analyst at brokerage GCFX.
    "The last thing they want to do is to signal they've won the
inflation battle prematurely, because that will just allow
markets to run positive on risk."
    Carl Zeiss Meditec  AFXG.DE  jumped 6.5% after the medical
technology firm reported higher annual revenue and a more
optimistic forecast.
    Italy's Banco BPM  BAMI.MI  rose 1.2% after pledging to
moderately grow profits through 2026.
    Novo Nordisk  NOVOb.CO , the producer of blockbuster obesity
drug Wegovy, fell 1.2% after a study showed patients regained
weight after stopping rival Eli Lilly's  LLY.N  weight-loss
drug. 
    AstraZeneca  AZN.L  gained 0.8% on plans to buy U.S.-based
vaccine developer Icosavax  ICVX.O  in a $1.1 billion deal.
    Hargreaves Lansdown  HRGV.L  fell 6.7% after Britain's
market watchdog expressed concerns about the amount of interest
and fees charged by some investment platforms.
    BT Group  BT.L  fell 3.9%, with traders linking the drop to
British communications regulator Ofcom proposing a ban on
mid-contract price hikes linked to inflation.
    Telefonica  TEF.MC , which owns British telecom services
provider O2 UK, was down 5.4%, as its shares traded ex-dividend
in Madrid.
    Hannover Re  HNRGn.DE  advanced 2.1% as the reinsurer said
it expected a 24% surge in 2024 net profit over its current-year
guidance.
    Meanwhile, Warsaw's WIG 20  .WIG20  eased 0.9%, a day after
Donald Tusk was appointed as the country's prime minister.

 (Reporting by Khushi Singh and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Arun Koyyur and Alex Richardson)
 ((Khushi.Singh@thomsonreuters.com))