Premarket: Stocks stagnate as investors await U.S. price data

News Snapshot:

World stocks eased on Wednesday as traders held their fire ahead of a U.S. price reading later this week that may influence the timing of the Federal Reserve’s easing cycle. European stocks dipped 0.1 per cent, with lacklustre corporate earnings weighing on sentiment, though German stocks bucked the trend to add 0.2 per cent. Markets across major assets were generally quiet, with investor focus squarely on the U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index for January, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, due on Thursday. The index is expected to have risen 0.3 per cent on a monthly basis in January, up...