- British homebuilders gain ahead of public spending review
- Inditex weighs after early summer sales disappoint
- Ricardo jumps as Canada's WSP plans to acquire co
June 11 (Reuters) - European shares were mostly steady on Wednesday as investors awaited a crucial U.S. inflation report and weighed the potential impact of a U.S.-China trade agreement.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was little changed at 553.88 points, as of 0806 GMT.
Markets remained on edge ahead of the May U.S. inflation data, due later in the day, as investors watched for signs that U.S. tariffs had begun to filter into the economy.
"We think it is too early because (most) reciprocal tariffs are paused until July and the economy slowed sharply in Q1, so fears about weak demand could keep the lid on goods and service inflation for now," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB.
Late on Tuesday, U.S. and Chinese officials said they had agreed on a framework to put their trade truce back on track and remove China's export restrictions on rare-earth minerals, and remove some from the U.S.
The agreement will be taken back to the leaders of the two countries for approval.
"Investors may be wary of the pattern that emerged during the previous U.S.-China trade talks in 2018-19, when apparently constructive in-person meetings seemed to take a step back as the negotiating teams returned to their capitals," said Deutsche Bank analysts led by Jim Reid.
"There is perhaps a little disappointment this morning that we haven't yet got a bigger announcement."
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Mexico were negotiating a deal to reduce or eliminate tariffs on U.S. steel imports up to a certain volume.
Markets have reacted sensitively to any trade deal headlines on hopes of a de-escalation in global trade tensions, which have disrupted supply chains and caused panic about slowing economic growth.
In Europe, industrial metal miners were the biggest gainers, up 0.6%, followed by personal and household goods.
British homemakers, including Bellway and Vistry, gained ahead of finance minister Rachel Reeves' speech, where she is expected to outline plans to allocate more than 2 trillion pounds ($2.7 trillion) in public spending to stimulate the British economy.
Retailers led losses on the STOXX 600 with a 1.3% drop, weighed down by a 5% slide in Inditex after the Zara owner missed first-quarter sales expectations. The stock was the index's biggest decliner.
Ricardo jumped more than 25% after Canada's WSP Global announced plans to acquire the environmental and engineering consulting firm for about 363.1 million pounds ($489.6 million), including debt.
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Sherry Jacob-Phillips
Source: Reuters