FTSE down 1.00%; DAX down 0.33%; CAC 40 down 0.22% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 20 Aug - European shares closed lower as the annual inflation rate in the eurozone rose to 2.6% in July from 2.5% the previous month, figures from European Union statistical office Eurostat showed. The figures were in line with preliminary indications. Investors bided time and looked ahead to a speech from US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell Friday amid growing expectations of an immminent US rate cut.

Within Europe, the Swedish central bank announce today its executive board decided to cut the policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.50%, noting that inflation has developed as expected and economic activity is weak.

Also on the data front, in Germany, in July domestic producer prices of industrial products rose 0.2% on the previous month and fell 0.8% year on year, according to the statistics office Destatis.

The London FTSE 100 closed down 1.00% at 8,273.32 points, the Frankfurt DAX dropped 0.33% at 18,367.01 points, the Paris CAC 40 shed 0.22% at 7,485.73 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB lost 0.57% at 33,066.92 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 closed 0.11% lower at 11,090.65 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 20-08-24 18:05:57 (0422) 5 NNNN