European indices were mixed on Wednesday following a tech-led selloff on Wall Street, while U.K. inflation came in hotter than expected, raising doubts over future monetary easing by the Bank of England.

The DAX index in Germany dropped 0.7%, while the CAC 40 in France slipped 0.1% and the FTSE 100 in the U.K. rallied 1.1%.

Tech-led weakness European markets have followed their Asian counterparts lower on Wednesday, following the overnight weakness on Wall Street after tech stocks fretted about President Donald Trump's growing influence over the sector.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is looking into the government taking equity stakes in Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) as well as other chip companies in exchange for grants under the CHIPS Act, according to a Reuters report.

Additionally, the outlook for European corporate health has slightly deteriorated, the latest earnings forecasts showed on Tuesday, marking a change of direction after several weeks of improvement.

European companies are expected to report growth of 4.6% in second-quarter earnings, on average, according to LSEG I/B/E/S data. That is slightly below the 4.8% rise analysts had expected a week ago.

U.K. inflation rose in July
U.K. consumer price inflation increased to 3.8% in July from 3.6% in June, above the consensus forecast of 3.7%, according to official data released Wednesday. This was the highest for the headline number since January 2024.

The Bank of England had anticipated this inflation rise in its August Monetary Policy Report, predicting CPI would reach an 18-month high of 3.8% in July.

Source: Investing.com