European markets had a choppy day, with London's FTSE 100 and Frankfurt's DAX tumbling in afternoon trading while the Paris CAC 40 wobbled from gains to losses."The markets are likely to remain volatile as Q4 begins with October another historically choppy period after September's wild ride for the markets that saw the S&P 500 snap a seven-month winning streak," said analysts at Charles Schwab.
But that good news was offset by inflation data. The US Commerce Department's personal consumption expenditures price index was up 4.3 percent from August 2020 as the world's largest economy struggles with supply chain delays and shortages amid its bounceback from the pandemic's business closures.- Inflation deflates sentiment -Eurozone consumer prices surged in September by 3.4 percent on an annualised basis -- the fastest pace since 2008 -- as energy costs rocketed.
The inflation news"probably has not helped general sentiment", Interactive Investor analyst Richard Hunter told AFP.