UK and European stocks were mixed, losing the positive momentum seen during the previous trading session. The FTSE 100 ticked up in afternoon trade, recovering from earlier losses after the inflation print came in line with expectations.
The dollar was nursing losses after soft U.S. retail sales data reinforced bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Oil rose slightly in early trade as concern over escalating conflict in Europe and the Middle East offset demand worries following an unexpected build in U.S. crude inventories.
Gold prices edged higher after softer U.S. retail sales data boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.
Telecoms tower company Helios Towers has announced a secondary placing of shares, in which stakeholders Newlight Partners and RIT Capital Partners sold a combined £43.2m of stock, causing the share price to fall on Wednesday.
Newlight and RIT, which have not sold any shares in Helios Towers since the company's IPO in 2019, sold 37.6m shares in total at 115p each. The placing reduced their stakes to 13.2% and 3.2%, respectively.
"The sellers' intention with this transaction is to provide additional liquidity in the company's shares while remaining sizeable shareholders in the company post-sale," Helios Towers said.
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