FTSE 100 up 0.52%; DAX down 0.49%; CAC 40 down 0.13% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 30 Apr - European shares were mostly lower in cautious midday trade after yesterday's mixed session. Investors remained on the sidelines as they awaited the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting starting today following another hotter-than-expected US inflation reading on Friday.

The US central bank is expected to keep rates on hold tomorrow, but but investors will closely monitor chairman Jerome Powell's press conference for fresh clues on the Fed's policy path.

Traders also continued to monitor fresh earnings reports from European companies including Air France-KLM, Volkswagen, Lufthansa, Mercedes, Stellantis, Capgemini, Carlsberg, HSBC, Glencore, Whitbread, Santander and Caixabank, as the earnings season continues in full swing.

Investors also digested preliminary eurozone inflation data for April and first-quarter gross domestic product figures for the region.

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.4% in April, in line with the rise seen in March, according to a preliminary estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Month on month, consumer prices rose 0.6% in the Eurozone, according to the preliminary reading.

In the first quarter of 2024, seasonally adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.3% in both the eurozone and the European Union compared to the previous quarter, according to preliminary data from EU statistical office Eurostat. Compared with the first quarter of 2023, GDP rose by 0.4% in the eurozone and by 0.5% in the EU, the preliminary data also showed.

US stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open as investors braced for a slew of corporate earnings from major US companies, with Amazon and Apple reporting their quarterly results respectively tomorrow and on Thursday.

Traders also awaited the US jobs report for April at the end of the week.

At 1135 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.52% at 8,189 points, hovering at all-time highs as it rose for a tenth straight session. The Frankfurt DAX was down 0.49% at 18,043 points.

The Paris CAC 40 was down 0.13% at 8,054 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB was down 0.44% at 34,145 points and in Madrid the IBEX 35 was down 1.45% at 10,939 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 30-04-24 13:47:39 (0478) 5 NNNN