Today Largest European stock markets in general show moderate growth. Investors are assessing the data on inflation in the UK, and Spain, as well as the financial results of major companies. The Stoxx Europe 600 composite index of the largest companies in the region rose 0.03% to 462.54 points.

Biggest European stock markets — current situation

British stock index FTSE 100 was down 0.03%. German DAX gained 0.47%, French CAC 40 gained 0.72%. Italian FTSE MIB and Spanish IBEX 35 added 0.22% and 0.38% respectively.

Shares of Barclays Plc (LON:BARC) are down 8.5% on news that the British bank cut pretax earnings in Q4 2022, unexpectedly for analysts, and revenue growth was weaker than market expectations.

Leaders of the decline in the Stoxx Europe 600, in addition to Barclays, are shares of the Finnish real estate operator Kojamo, decreasing by 8%.

The price of Heineken securities is rising by 1.7%. The second largest brewer in the world has cut its net profit in 2022, but its revenue has increased by almost a third.

Kering (EPA:PRTP) SA’s capitalization is up 1%. The French company, which owns famous fashion brands, increased its net profit by 14% last year and boosted revenue by 15%.

Glencore (LON:GLEN) Plc is down 0.1%, though one of the world’s leading commodities companies has promised to pay shareholders a total of $7.1 billion ($5.6 billion in dividends and $1.5 billion through a share buyback program) amid strong financial results for 2022.

The market value of French supermarket chain Carrefour (EPA:CARR) jumped 8%, helping the company lead the growth in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. The retailer reported annual revenues of more than 90 billion euros and posted an 11% increase in like-for-like sales in Q4 last year.

As it became known on Wednesday, consumer prices in Britain rose by 10.1% in January. Thus, inflation slowed down from 10.5% in December and was lower than analysts’ expectations of 10.3%.

Against December, consumer prices in the country decreased by 0.6%, while analysts expected a decrease by 0.4%. The decrease in month-on-month terms was recorded for the first time in a year, and the dynamics of the fall were the highest since January 2019.

Inflation in Spain, calculated according to EU standards, accelerated to 5.9% in January from 5.5% in December. Meanwhile, on a month-over-month basis, the figure decreased by 0.4% after a decline of 0.1% a month earlier.

Earlier, we reported that exceeding the $31.5 trillion debt limit in the US would lead to a total federal budget collapse.