European Markets Move Lower Following Powell Comments

European bourses were moving lower midday Wednesday with Britain's inflation rate hitting a 40-year high and investors also weighing comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, concerned about potentially aggressive US rate hikes in the future.

In Britain, consumer prices jumped 9% in the year through April, the fastest rate since 1982, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday, according to reports.

In the US, Powell told The Wall Street Journal that he will support raising interest rates until prices begin dropping.

"If that involves moving past broadly understood levels of neutral we won't hesitate to do that," he said. "We will go until we feel we're at a place where we can say financial conditions are in an appropriate place, we see inflation coming down."

The euro area annual inflation rate was 7.4% in April, Eurostat reported Wednesday, which was unchanged from March, and up from 1.6% a year earlier. European Union annual inflation was 8.1%, up from 7.8% in March and 2.0% a year earlier.

The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 Index was off 0.41% mid-session. The Stoxx Europe 600 Technology Index was moving 1.55% lower, and the Stoxx 600 Banks Index was up 0.18%.

The Stoxx Europe Oil and Gas Index was up 1.86%, and the Stoxx Europe Food and Beverage Index declined 0.41%.

The REITE, a European REIT index, rose 0.73%, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Insurance Index was down 0.22%.

On the national market indexes, Germany's DAX was down 0.24%, the FTSE 100 Index in London was off 0.24% and the CAC 40 in Paris was moving 0.22% lower. Spain's IBEX 35 increased 0.37%.

Yields on benchmark 10-year German bonds were unchanged.

Front-month Brent crude oil futures were up 1.79% at $113.93 per barrel.

The Euro Stoxx 50 volatility index was down 7.02% to 26.24, as the volatility indicator has fallen 25% in the past week. However, the reading still indicates above-average volatility for European stock markets over the next 30 days. A reading above 20 indicates higher volatility in the markets ahead.