european stocks edged into the red wednesday giving up earlier modest gains londons ftse 100 bucked the trend however with the blue chip index remaining just in positive territory as investors digested the latest uk inflation data ahead uk treasury chief rishi sunak unveils his latest fiscal spending plans when he presents the budget later wednesday adidass strategic plan to focus on its premium and sportswear offerings looks wellthoughtout jefferies said after the sportinggoods giant held a twoday innovation event this week adidas is looking to boost its topline through premiumization of its offering with the benefits boosted by greater directtoconsumer sales jefferies added adidas is also aiming to expand its sportswear offering targeting younger consumers especially and this looks to have started well with strong wholesale orders further validation will come with strong secondhalf sell out reinforcing adidass upbeat outlook for this year and beyond jefferies said the bank kept a buy rating and a eur250 target on the stock the uks annual inflation rate is expected to peak above 8 in april as higher food and gas prices combine with the increase in household utility bills ing said inflation is then expected to fall to around 665 in late2022 but its path is difficult to predict given the current uncertainty and volatility in energy prices ing added the situation later this year is looking less worrisome than it was a few weeks ago given the pullback in gas prices ing said the main unknown is how far the war in ukraine alongside the recent covid19 outbreaks in parts of asia amplify the bottlenecks on supply chains pantheon macroeconomics said februarys uk inflation rate is at the top end of the range expected by the bank of england but it isnt high enough to warrant a very aggressive rate increase path the nearterm outlook for inflation is clearly uncomfortable for the boe but the economic recovery is likely to slow sharply as households feel the pinch of the cost of living crisis pantheon said we expect the monetary policy committee to pause raising bank rate once it has increase it to 100 in may further rate hikes would increase the risk of a recession and the chances that inflation ultimately would significantly undershoot the 2 target in the medium term pantheon said stock futures fell and a selloff in government bonds stabilized as investors digested the recent sharp swings that have dominated markets and awaited updates on the war in ukraine a sharp rally in us government bond yields slowed with the yield on the 10year treasury note hovering around 2375 in recent trading unchanged from the day before the last time the yield on the benchmark note traded around that level was may 2019 in premarket trading in new york shares of meme stockswhich have largely slumped this yearenjoyed a resurgence shares of gamestop climbed 11 after the companys chairman ryan cohen disclosed his firm bought 100000 shares of the companys stock on tuesday shares of amc entertainment holdings which tend to move in correlation with gamestop climbed 65 meanwhile shares of adobe slumped 31 the software company reported higher profit and betterthanexpected revenue growth tuesday but said it expects a hit to annual revenue from the war in ukraine the dollar is likely to get a boost from the market raising its expectations for us interest rates according to ing analysts the futures market is fully pricing in 75 basis points of tightening in the next two meetings which implies at least one 50bp increase that should offer the dollar a positive undercurrent particularly against lowyielding currencies and european currencies exposed to the ukraine war the analysts said expectations that the european central bank will raise interest rates by more than previously thought is capping the euros depreciation against the dollar after the fed signalled more aggressive rate rises monex europe said markets are now pricing in about three rate rises by the ecb within the next 12 months after the central bank accelerated the removal of stimulus at last thursdays meeting despite uncertainty over the ukraine crisis this has shielded the euro from further downside against the dollar in mondays and tuesdays session and is likely to serve as a backstop for the euro in the months ahead in an environment where us yields are rising sterling edged lower versus the dollar but was little changed against the euro after data showed uk inflation accelerated by more than expected in february bri wealth management said it seems inevitable the bank of england will continue to raise interest rates to curb inflation raising rates at a time of high household bills and rising taxes could stifle the economic recovery by putting the consumer under too much pressure though bank of america said interest rate rises may not necessarily support the pound the boe seemed to raise rates with a tinge of regret for the second consecutive meeting last thursday bofa analysts said with the monetary policy committee sounding almost apologetic about hiking once again this serves to underscore to us the position of weakness the boe finds itself hiking due to supply shocks one of whichbrexitit still does not acknowledge and against the backdrop of a generational squeeze in personal incomes raising rates into a slowing economy and squeeze on personal incomes will inevitably take its toll on sterling over the medium term the bofa analysts said rising german bund yields seem on a oneway street said commerzbanks rates strategists adding that multiyear resistance levels are proving soft as butter as central banks talk up their inflation resolve 10year bund yields rose above 050 on tuesday for the first time since october 2018 commerzbanks strategists see the scope for further rises but recommend selling bunds into recoveries during the day dz bank analysts are betting on spanish and portuguese government bonds in the eurozone periphery and they also like irish french and belgian government bonds in the semicore segment compared with italy spain and portugal offer much lower political risks and to a degree also the chance to improve their rating profiles the trading link between ireland france and belgium on the one hand and russia on the other are less close than for other countries dzs analysts said these countries also benefit from the fact that they are geographically not as close to the current conflict and they also offer a higher carry within the semicore segment the analysts said the german finance agencys review of the issuance schedule for the second quarter is unlikely to feature major surprises said commerzbanks rates strategists we dont expect major adjustments the governments indications about additional funding requirements from the supplementary ukrainerelated expenditures are still very vague and will most likely be incorporated at a later stage in the preliminary funding plans published in december the german finance agency penciled in eur525 billion in capital market issuance and eur54 billion in treasury bills with these figures excluding inflationlinked bond sales and syndications suggestions that the eu could ban russian oil imports have supported crude prices though news that germany and hungary still oppose a ban has softened the rise prices have also gained from reports that russian and kazakhstan oil exports via the caspian pipeline consortium from the black sea may fall by 1 million barrels a day due to stormdamaged berths according to spi asset management read jamie dimon tells biden that us europe need marshall plan for energy independence biden allies aim to project united front against russia at nato meeting brusselspresident biden and european allies are gathering for meetings here thursday to project a united front as they announce new measures to target russian president vladimir putins war in ukraine and escalating attacks on civilians mr biden who is scheduled to land in brussels wednesday plans to meet with leaders of the north atlantic treaty organization the european union and the group of seven leading industrial countries to discuss deterrence efforts humanitarian relief and the campaign of sanctions against russia volodymyr zelensky plans to hold talks with chinese leader xi jinping ukrainian presidential spokesman andriy yermak said as part of a whirlwind of virtual visits for ukraines president to rally support for his country in the face of russias nearly monthlong assault kyiv is hopeful beijing will play a more prominent role in bringing this war to an end mr yermak tweeted inflation in the uk reached a new threedecade high in february accelerating to a 62 annual rate and is expected to rise further in the coming months on higher energy and other commodity prices this is the highest rate since march 1992when prices rose at an annual pace of 71and beats the 60 rate expected by economists polled by the wall street journal in january consumer prices increased 55 on year according to the data from the office for national statistics us uk strike trade deal to end tariffs on british steel and american whiskey washingtonthe us and uk struck a trade accord tuesday that will remove us tariffs on british steel and aluminum while the uk will lift levies on american whiskey motorcycles and tobacco