BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks closed broadly higher
on Wednesday after data showing less than expected rise in U.S. consumer prices
in the month of April helped ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Investors also reacted positively to the latest batch of European economic data.

Data from the Labor Department showed consumer prices in the U.S. rose by
slightly less than expected in the month of April, increasing by 0.3%, after
rising by 0.4% in March. Economists had expected consumer prices to climb by
another 0.4%.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 3.4% in
April from 3.5% in March, in line with expectations. The annual rate of core
consumer price growth decelerated to 3.6% in April from 3.8% in March. The
slowdown also matched estimates.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.59%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100, which rose to a
fresh record high, gaining 0.21%. Germany's DAX ended 0.82% up, and France's CAC
40 gained 0.17%, while Switzerland's SMI settled nearly 1% up.

Among other markets in Europe,

In the UK market, Experian soared more than 8% after it forecast annual organic
revenue growth of between 6% and 8% for fiscal year 2025.

Imperial Brands, Segro, Persimmon, Flutter Entertainment and Spirax-Sarco
Engineering gained 4.2 to 5.75%.

Vodafone Group gained nearly 4% after launching a ¤500 million share buyback
program.

DCC, Centrica, Fresnillo, Barratt Developments, JD Sports Fashion, Taylor
Wimpey, Legal & General, Unite Group, Coca-Cola Holdings, Smurfit Kappa Group,
Land Securities, Phoenix Group Holdings and Ashtead Group gained 2 to 4%.

Engineering group Hunting soared 21% on news of a new order win worth $145
million from the Kuwait Oil Company.

Burberry Group ended more than 7% down. Compass Group, B&M European Value
Retail, St. James's Place, Barclays Group and Ocado Group lost 1.7 to 3%.

In the German market, Vonovia and Siemens Energy both gained more than 6%.
Commerzbank gained about 5% after reporting its best quarterly profit in more
than 10 years and upgrading outlook for lending income this year.

Merck rallied 4.8% after Q1 adjusted profit fell less than expected. Fresenius
Medical Care, Adidas, Infineon, RWE, E.ON, Zalando, Siemens, Qiagen and
Sartorius also ended with strong gains.

Porsche, Daimler Truck Holding, Hannover Rueck, Rheinmetall and BMW ended lower
by 0.8 to 1.6%.

In the French market, Teleperformance, Eurofins Scientific, Veolia and Unibail
Rodamco gained 2.4 to 3.5%.

Saint Gobain, Safran, STMicroElectronics, Schneider Electric, Essilor, Accord
and Legrand also posted impressive gains.

Carrefour dropped more than 4%. TotalEnergies, Sanofi and ArcelorMittal lost 1
to 1.25%.

ABN AMRO Bank shares slumped 6%. The Dutch lender reported a weaker capital
ratio in the first quarter due to an increase in risk-weighted assets.

Finland's Neste plunged more than 14%. The biofuels maker lowered its 2024
margin guidance for renewable products.

On the economic front, the euro area economy recovered as estimated in the first
quarter after contracting for two straight quarters, flash estimate from
Eurostat showed.

Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially, reversing the 0.1% falls each in
the third and fourth quarters of 2023. The rate matched the preliminary flash
estimates released on April 30.

On a yearly basis, economic growth improved to 0.4% from 0.1%. The annual
figures also came in line with the previous estimate.

Eurozone industrial production unexpectedly expanded in March driven by the
capital goods output, data from Eurostat revealed.

Industrial production posted a monthly growth of 0.6%, confounding expectations
for a decline of 0.3%. Production had increased 1% in February.

In the latest Spring economic forecast, released Wednesday, the European
Commission said the single currency bloc will grow 0.8% this year, same as the
Winter interim forecast. For 2025, the growth outlook was revised down to 1.4%
from 1.5%.

The European Union is forecast to grow 1% this year and 1.6% in 2025. Almost all
member states are forecast to return to growth in 2024.

France's consumer price inflation eased further to the lowest level in just over
two-and-a-half years, as initially estimated in April, the latest data from the
statistical office INSEE showed on Wednesday.

The consumer price index, or CPI, posted an annual increase of 2.2% in April,
slightly slower than the 2.3% rise in March. That was in line with the flash
data published on April 30. The rate was the weakest since September 2021, when
the figure was also 2.2%.



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