European markets turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday with investors largely making cautious moves as they continued to track news on coronavirus and vaccine fronts, and reacting to the latest batch of economic data.
Among the major markets in Europe, the U.K. ended on a positive note and hitting a six-month closing high, riding on news about the country granting approval to the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The vaccine is expected to be rolled out next week.
Although expectations of a fiscal stimulus in the U.S. aided sentiment, investors appeared reluctant to make significant moves due to worries about rising prospects of a no-deal Brexit.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit supremo, Michael Gove, said on Tuesday that there was a chance that Brexit trade talks may end without a deal.
The FTSE 100 index surged up 1.23%. Germany's DAX slid 0.52%, Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.13% and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.02%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Greece, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain moved higher. Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden closed weak, while Denmark, Netherlands and Turkey ended flat.
In the UK market, BHP Group shares gained nearly 6%. BP, Rio Tinto, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Royal Dutch Shell, Imperial Brands, HSBC Holdings and Associated British Foods moved up 3 to 5%.
Barclays, Coca-Cola, Standard Chartered, Hikma Pharma, AstraZeneca, United Utilities, Anglo American and Compass Group also rose sharply.
On the other hand, Sainsburry, Berkeley Group, Rightmove, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and B&M posted sharp losses.
In Germany, RWE and Infineon Technologies posted notable gains, while Thyssenkrupp, Wirecard, Covestro, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen, BMW and BASF lost 1 to 3%.
In the French market, Valeo, Peugeot, Teleperformance, Publicis Groupe, Michelin and BNP Paribas lost 1 to 3%, while Veolia, Bouygues and Engie posted strong gains.
In economic releases, German retail sales grew more than expected in October, data released by Destatis revealed.
Retail sales increased 2.6% on a monthly basis, reversing a 1.9% drop in September. Sales were expected to climb only 1.2%.
Year-on-year, retail sales surged around 8.2% in October, bigger than the economists' forecast of 5.9%.
The euro area unemployment rate continued to fall in October with the gradual relaxation of restrictions related to Covid-19, data from Eurostat revealed.
The jobless rate fell marginally to 8.4% in October from 8.5% in the previous month. The rate came in line with economists' expectations.
Data showed that unemployment in the currency bloc decreased by 86,000 from the previous month. However, on a yearly basis, unemployment was up by 1.692 million.
Eurozone producer prices continued to fall in October on weak energy prices, another data from Eurostat showed.
Producer prices decreased 2% year-on-year in October but slower than the 2.3% fall in September. This was also slower than the 2.4% decrease economists' had forecast.
Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed, Switzerland's consumer price index decreased 0.7% year-on-year in November, following a 0.6% fall in October. Economists had expected a 0.5% fall.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.2% in November. Economists had forecast a fall of 0.1%.
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