CAC 40 Dips In Cautious Trade Ahead Of Inflation Data

(RTTNews) - French stocks fell slightly in cautious trade on Wednesday as investors awaited more signals from U.S. inflation data and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech due on Friday.

The dollar held firm amid expectations the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of underlying U.S. inflation probably remained uncomfortably high in February.

Powell is due to deliver a speech at a San Francisco Fed conference.

Closer home, markets await the euro-zone consumer and economic sentiment data for March later in the day.

Euro zone government bonds edged lower ahead of Spanish inflation data due later in the day.

France and Italy will publish their inflation figures on Friday, while German and euro area-wide data is due next week.

The benchmark CAC 40 was down 9 points, or 0.1 percent, at 8,175 after rising 0.4 percent on Tuesday.