LONDON — Europe’s stock markets were mostly down in mid-morning trading on Wednesday as investors braced for the European Central Bank’s expected launch of full-scale financial stimulus measures in the region where deflation has taken hold.
The CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.5 percent to 4,422.08, while the DAX in Frankfurt sank 0.4 percent to 10,214.00 and the FTSE MIB in Milan fell 0.03 percent to 19,653.65.
The FTSE 100 in London was the only market that gained ground, rising 0.6 percent to 6,660.88 following news that unemployment in Britain fell to 5.8 percent — its lowest level in more than six years — in the three months to November.
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In the same period, average U.K. earnings rose 1.8 percent year-on-year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Earlier this month, the Bank of England also voted to keep the base interest rate at an historic low of 0.5 percent.
On Thursday, the ECB is set to announce a major bond-buying program and pump fresh cash into the region in a bid to stimulate economic growth.
The euro traded at $1.16, while the pound fetched $1.51 and the Swiss franc equaled $1.14 at 11:40 a.m. CET.
Retail and luxury stocks were uneven, with the morning’s biggest gainers including online flash sales site MySale Group, up 5 percent to 0.62 pounds, and Safilo Group and Unilever, which each climbed 1.2 percent to 11.76 euros and to 35.19 euros, respectively.
Among the morning’s biggest fallers were Yoox Group, down 2.1 percent to 18.21 euros; Aeffe, 3.5 percent to 1.83 euros, and Jimmy Choo 1.4 percent to 1.65 pounds.