FTSE 100 down 0.26%; DAX up 0.29%; CAC 40 down 0.49% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 27 Jun - European shares inched down and were slightly lower in cautious midday trade as weakness persisted after recent losses. The Stoxx 600 index was down 0.29%.

Investors remained on the sidelines as they awaited fresh US inflation data due tomorrow with the release of May's personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, for more clues over the start of the US central bank's rate-cutting cycle.

Traders also looked ahead to the first US presidential debate today and the first round of voting in the French election next weekend.

Marine Le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National party and its allies were seen leading the first round of the country's elections with 35.5% of the vote, according to a poll published on Sunday.

A disappointing outlook from chipmaker Micron also weighed on sentiment as it sparked some doubts over the recent artificial intelligence-driven boom.

On the policy front, Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, kept borrowing costs unchanged but signalled that it expects to resume it monetary easing, with up to three cuts in the second half of the year.

Turkey's central bank, the Turkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankas, also left interest rates unchanged at 50.00%.

On the data front, in June the economic sentiment indicator (ESI) in the eurozone fell 0.2 points month on month to 95.9, according to the European Commission.

The ESI also fell 0.2 points in the European Union to 96.4.

The ESI has remained essentially flat over the first six months of the year, around 4 points below its long-term average, the commission noted.

In May, industrial producer prices in Italy rose by 0.3% compared to the previous month and were down 3.5% compared to the year earlier after falling at a 5.9% annual pace in April, data from statistics institute Istat showed.

At 1135 GMT the London FTSE 100 was down 0.26% at 8,204 points, the Frankfurt DAX was up 0.29% at 18,215 points, the Paris CAC 40 down 0.49% at 7,571 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB was down 0.45% at 33,392 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 was down 0.62% at 10,962 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 27-06-24 13:42:43 (0389) 5 NNNN