European stocks largely unchanged; Rio Tinto Moves to Lithium via Investing.com

Investing.com – European stock markets traded weak on Wednesday, with investor confidence weighed down by the conflict in the Middle East as well as market volatility in China.

At 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT), Germany traded largely unchanged, France traded 0.1 percent lower, while Britain gained 0.4 percent.

Europe is benefiting from the brightening of payrolls

The main European indexes fell on losses in Asia overnight, particularly in China, after policymakers in Beijing failed to announce concrete stimulus measures after returning from a week-long holiday.

China is a major export market for a number of major European companies, and the world’s second-largest economy is struggling in the face of sluggish consumer spending and a housing crisis.

Ahead of the Golden Week holiday, the Chinese government launched a series of stimulus measures, including interest rate cuts.

Meanwhile, the conflict in the Middle East continued on Wednesday, with Hezbollah militants targeting Israeli soldiers near the border with Lebanon.

The conflict in Lebanon has escalated dramatically in recent weeks as Israel has carried out a series of assassinations of top Hezbollah leaders and launched ground operations in southern Lebanon that have further expanded this week.

German exports rose in August

Back in Europe, it rose in August on strong demand from the United States, defying expectations of a decline.

Exports rose 1.3 percent in August from a month earlier, data from the federal statistics office showed on Wednesday, better than the 1.0 percent drop expected.

It meets next week and is expected to ease policy once more, having already cut rates twice this year as economic growth weakened while inflationary pressures eased.

“A cut is very likely and it won’t be the last, the pace depending on how the fight against inflation evolves,” ECB Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said in an interview on Wednesday.

Rio Tinto (NYSE: ) to buy Arcadium Lithium

In the corporate sector, Rio Tinto ( LON: ) confirmed on Wednesday that it will acquire Arcadium Lithium in an all-cash deal valued at $6.7 billion in a deal that will make it the third largest lithium producer in world.

Rio would have access to lithium mines, processing facilities and warehouses around the world to help supply a customer base that includes Tesla (NASDAQ: ), BMW (ETR: ) and General Motors (NYSE: ).

Elsewhere, Volvo ( OTC: ) Cars said deputy chief executive Bjorn Annwall will leave the group as part of a reorganisation.

Gross rebounds; US stocks due

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, recouping some of the previous session’s steep losses, although an indication of a big increase in US inventories had limited gains.

By 03:05 ET, the contract was up 0.5% at $77.55 a barrel, while WTI futures traded 0.3% higher at $73.81 a barrel .

Both contracts fell more than 4 percent on Tuesday on disappointment over the lack of new stimulus from top oil importer China, as well as talk that the Lebanese military group Hezbollah was eyeing a ceasefire with Israel, pointing to a potential detente in conflict in the Middle East. .

Data from the , released on Tuesday, showed that US oil inventories rose by 10.9 million barrels in the past week, well above expectations for a rise of 1.95 million barrels.

Official data, from , is available later in the session and could fuel concerns that U.S. fuel demand is cooling, especially as the country’s mid-south faces a series of devastating hurricanes.