Investing.com – European stock markets fell on Wednesday, with rising bond yields unnerving investors ahead of the release of key inflation data amid fears that monetary policy would remain tight for even longer.
At 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT), the price in Germany was trading 0.3% lower, the price in France was down 0.3%, while the price in Britain was down 0.1%.
Inflation data from the German state is known
With the quarterly earnings season largely completed, attention has returned to the world’s central banks’ plans to change monetary policy depending on progress in curbing inflation.
Bond yields have risen in the US, Asia and Europe on concerns that persistent inflation will keep rates high for longer or even lead to additional near-term hikes, especially by the US Federal Reserve.
Neel Kashkari, chairman of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, said Tuesday that it would take “many more months of positive inflation numbers” before he could feel confident that it is time to cut rates.
Rates are widely expected to be cut next month, but uncertainty about what comes next remains.
The latest release is due Friday and is expected to rise 2.5% year-over-year in May, up from 2.4% in April.
Ahead of this, Germany’s individual states will release their May consumer price data later in the session, showing how the eurozone’s largest economy is dealing with inflation.
BHP wants more time on Anglo’s offer
In company news, BHP Group (NYSE:) said on Wednesday it needs more time to engage in talks with takeover target Anglo American (JO:), a week after the London-listed miner rejected its takeover bid.
BHP, the world’s largest listed mining group, has also proposed a series of measures to address Anglo’s concerns over the deal structure, which will see Anglo unbundling its platinum and iron ore assets in South Africa.
The rival miners had until 4pm GMT on Wednesday to reach an agreement after a week-long extension to last week’s deadline.
Crude oil prices are rising faster than US inventory data
Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday, adding to recent gains on hopes that demand will pick up with the start of the busy US summer season ahead of a meeting of major producers to determine future production levels.
At 3:05 AM ET, futures (WTI) were trading 0.5% higher at $80.23 per barrel, while the contract rose 0.4% to $84.27 per barrel.
Both benchmarks gained more than 1% on Tuesday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC+, will take place online this weekend, and the cartel is expected to extend its current voluntary production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day into the second half of the year.
The Memorial Day holiday on Monday marks the start of the peak demand season in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, boosting market sentiment.
The coming years are expected to favor the idea of growing demand, with analysts predicting a drop in total inventories of 2 million barrels.
Additionally, the price fell 0.1% to $2,355.75/oz, while remaining largely unchanged at 1.0855.
