European markets close higher despite hot U.S. inflation data; Stoxx 600 up 1.6%

LONDON — European stocks closed higher Wednesday, with investors largely shrugging off hotter-than-expected inflation data out of the U.S

The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed up 1.6%, with autos jumping 3.6% to lead gains as all sectors traded in positive territory except health care, which fell 1.2%

The gains in Europe come after some choppy trading sessions in the region, and in markets further afield. European stocks climbed on Tuesday as global markets rebounded from a broad sell-off in recent days, prompted mainly by concerns over inflation and rising interest rates — and the potential for a global recession

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks mostly rose Wednesday despite April’s consumer price index showing an 8.3% jump in prices, higher than the 8.1% increase expected by economists polled by Dow Jones. The price surge remained near the 40-year high pace of 8.5% seen in March

Recent market volatility has been driven by investor concerns over rising interest rates and question marks over how aggressively the Federal Reserve will act to curb rising inflation. In addition, investors continue to monitor the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and lockdowns in China

European natural gas prices jumped on Wednesday after Ukraine’s state-owned grid operator suspended Russian gas flows through a key entry point

Gas TSO of Ukraine on Tuesday announced force majeure on its Sokhranivka gas metering station and Novopskov border compressor station, both of which are situated in Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine and account for almost a third of gas flows from Russia to Europe

Salman Ahmed, global head of macro and strategic asset allocation at Fidelity International, told CNBC on Wednesday that his team were underweight on stocks across the board, but favored the U.S. over Europe

“Europe, we think, is in the center of the storm. We think the gas disruptions are likely to worsen,” he added

Overnight, shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed as investors reacted to the release of higher-than-expected Chinese inflation data for April

In Europe, German inflation in April rose to an annual 7.4%, its highest print since 1981

Earnings from a wide range of companies were released before the bell, including Alstom, Commerzbank, Continental, E.On, Siemens Energy, Thyssenkrupp and Tui

Shares of British home emergency repairs firm HomeServe bounced more than 13% after Bloomberg reported that Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management was nearing a takeover of the company

German engineering and steel conglomerate Thyssenkrupp added 11% after beating earnings expectations

Swedish Match shares climbed 9%, building on Tuesday’s surge after the tobacco company agreed a $16 billion sale to U.S. giant Philip Morris International

German biotech firm Evotec dropped more than 10% after its first-quarter results

Shares of German drugmaker Bayer fell 6% after U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court not to consider the company’s appeal to dismiss claims from customers alleging that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer