LONDON — European stocks closed lower on Wednesday as investors continued to digest corporate earnings, economic data and the potential path of monetary policy.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed tentatively down 0.2%, after reversing initial gains earlier in the session. The banking and automotive sectors each fell more than 0.9% to lead the losses. Tech stocks climbed 1.7% after Netflix said it expects to return to subscriber growth in the third quarter.
The slightly negative trade for European markets comes after an equally volatile session on Tuesday, as the relief rally seen in the previous two sessions lost momentum.
It was a different picture in the US, with major averages generally trading higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.6% on Netflix’s positive forecast.
The consumer price index rose 9.4% a year, estimates released on Wednesday showed, slightly above a consensus forecast among economists polled by Reuters and up from 9.1% in May.
Uniper was the biggest climber on Wednesday. Shares of the German energy giant jumped nearly 13% amid bailout talks with the government.
Down the Stoxx 600, Volvo Car fell more than 5% after the Swedish automaker lowered its retail sales forecast and missed second-quarter profit expectations.
— CNBC’s Ryan Browne and Abigail Ng contributed to this story.