EUROPE Stocks trade softer

European stock markets were trading lower on Wednesday, 22 February 2023, amid rising geopolitical tensions ahead of the Ukraine war's first anniversary and signs that Beijing wants to play a more active role in the Ukraine conflict. Also, weighing risk sentiments was worries about the potential for further Federal Reserve tightening and the impact it has on global growth.

At 14.42 GMT, the pan European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.4% to 462.11. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index fell 0.7% to 7,922.42. France's CAC40 index declined 0.3% to 7,288.14. Germany's DAX index dropped 0.2% to 15,367.91. Switzerland's Swiss Market index added 0.2% to 11,301.39.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting later today, which could shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates.

China's top diplomat told one of Putin's closest allies on Tuesday Beijing's relationship with Moscow was "rock solid". Chinese leader Xi Jinping is preparing to visit Moscow for a summit with Russia's president in the coming months, as per reports, as Vladimir Putin wages war in Ukraine and portrays himself as a standard-bearer against a U.S.-led global order.

Beijing says it wants to play a more active role aimed at ending the conflict, and the people familiar with Mr. Xi's trip plans said a meeting with Mr. Putin would be part of a push for multiparty peace talks and allow China to reiterate its calls that nuclear weapons not be used.

Western capitals have expressed skepticism about China's diplomatic initiative, the broad outlines of which were first previewed last week by the country's top diplomat, Wang Yi, at the Munich Security Conference.

In economic releases, the headline German IFO Business Climate Index improved to 91.1 in February from a revised reading of 90.1 in January. The current conditions index fell to 93.9 from 94.1. Lastly, the expectations indicator climbed to 88.5 from 86.4.

In February, France's business climate indicator rose to 103 from 102 in the previous month, staying above the 100 long-term average. Confidence indicators for the manufacturing, services, retail trade and trade and repair of vehicles all improved during the month. In contrast, the business climate in the building construction industry deteriorated in February but, at 112, remained well above its long-term average.

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