Europe midday: Shares higher ahead of US inflation data

(Sharecast News) - European shares were higher on Wednesday as traders assessed an attack on a cargo ship in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels that killed six people and awaited key inflation data from the US.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.18% to 661 at 1145 with most major bourses higher.

The cargo ship was attacked in the Bab elMandeb Strait on Tuesday, the first reported fatalities from attacks on Red Sea shipping in more than a year.

Yemen's transport ministry said the dead included four crew members on the Egyptianowned, Tanzaniaflagged Tihamah - three Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian - along with two members of the Yemeni governmentallied National Resistance Forces who were hit in a followup strike during a rescue attempt.

Hours later, US forces said they fired missiles at a container ship that allegedly attempted to breach Washington's blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman.

Meanwhile, Iran's top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, said the vital Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless the US accepted Tehran's conditions to end the war, including the release of frozen assets, compensation and an end to other regional conflicts.

Oil prices hovered just below $90 a barrel - their highest level in a month - underlining concerns that US President Donald Trump may be realising the hard way that international diplomacy is not a Manhattan property deal and has painted himself into a corner with the Iranians in no hurry to strike a peace agreement.

On the economics front, attention will turn to US inflation data due later on Wednesday, with economists expecting another modest monthly rise. Consensus forecasts point to headline CPI increasing around 0.1% on the month and 3.4% yearonyear, while core CPI is seen up 0.2% and 2.5% respectively, keeping price pressures above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.

In equity news, shares in Vestas Wind Systems surged as the company reported better than expected second quarter revenues.

UK infrastructure group Balfour Beatty also jumped as it said annual earnings would be above estimates.

TKMS `soared as the warship maker raised its outlook for the second time in six months.

TUI fell after third-quarter operating profit at Europe's largest travel `company missed expectations as the Iran war hit bookings and hiked jet fuel costs.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com