European markets traded in positive territory on Wednesday, apparently defying widespread concerns over the coronavirus outbreak and a slump in oil prices.
Meanwhile in China, the country's National Health Commission (NHC) said there were 30 new confirmed cases as of April 21, of which 23 were attributed to travelers coming from overseas. That brings the country's total to 82,788 cases, the NHC said. There were no new deaths reported.
On the data front, U.K. inflation fell in March, the Office for National Statistics confirmed Wednesday, on the back of tumbling oil prices and an escalation of the coronavirus crisis. Consumer price index (CPI) inflation was 1.5% higher than in March 2019.
Earnings in focus
Corporate earnings have begun to take center stage in driving individual share price action. AkzoNobel climbed 7.5% in early trade after reporting a better-than-expected jump in first-quarter core profit. Finish telecoms provider Elisa rose by more than 4.5% after confirming its 2020 outlook, despite the uncertainty arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
Dutch staffing company Randstad gained 3.7% after announcing that it was scrapping management bonuses amid an "unprecedented decline" in business due to the coronavirus crisis. The company reported core earnings falling by almost a third in the first quarter of 2020 and forecast further challenges in the second quarter.
At the other end of the European benchmark, French conglomerate Kering fell 6.5% after reporting a sharp downturn in first-quarter sales on Tuesday.
- CNBC's Weizhen Tan, Berkeley Lovelace Jnr. and Eustance Huang contributed reporting to this story.
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April 22, 2020 at 02:46PM
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European markets advance, defying coronavirus and oil price fears - CNBC
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