BEIJING—Asian stocks fell and European markets opened mixed Wednesday after U.S. inflation edged down less than expected, fueling concern the Federal Reserve might think more interest rate hikes are needed.
London, Tokyo, and Shanghai declined. Frankfurt advanced. Oil prices fell by more than $1 per barrel.
Wall Street futures were lower after official data Tuesday showed inflation slowed to 6.4 percent in January from the previous month’s 6.5 percent. That was hotter than the consensus expectation of 6.2 percent.
Core inflation, which strips out more volatile food and energy prices to give a clearer view of the trend, rose to 0.4 percent over a month earlier from December’s 0.3 percent….