European stocks mixed; Spanish inflation rises while U.K. labor market cools
Investing.com — European stock markets traded in a mixed fashion Tuesday, with investors digesting U.K. jobs and Spanish inflation data ahead of the latest policy-setting meeting by the European Central Bank later in the week.
At 03:55 ET (07:55 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.2% lower, and the CAC 40 in France dropped 0.1%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rose 0.4%.
Data released earlier Tuesday showed that the U.K. unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in July, from 4.2% the previous month, while the August claimant count rose just 900 in August.
However, despite these signs of a weakening of the U.K. labor market, average earnings still rose 7.8%, suggesting the Bank of England still has to contend with wage-based inflationary pressures when it meets next week.
BOE policymaker Catherine Mann warned late Monday that it's too soon to stop raising rates, and the central bank is widely expected to hike by another 25 basis points.
Ahead of the BOE, the ECB meets later this week amid a great deal of uncertainty over the outcome as price pressures remain elevated while data shows economic activity is now slowing sharply.
The latest Spanish inflation data showed consumer prices rose 2.6% in the year through August, driven by the increased cost of fuel, up from a 2.3% increase during the 12 months through July.
The reading confirmed the flash estimate released two weeks ago.
There was some good news Tuesday, as German wholesale prices fell for the fifth month in a row in August, dropping by 2.7% in August compared to the same month last year.
The ECB has raised rates at each of its past nine meetings and policymakers are now debating whether to raise the deposit rate again, to 4%, or pause.
There’s also inflation data due this
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