European Stocks Close Higher in Wednesday Trading as Oil Prices Drop; UK Inflation Accelerates in August

11:59 AM EDT, 09/16/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed higher in Wednesday trading as financial and homebuilder stocks rose, while automotive and oil and gas companies lagged due to sharply lower crude prices. The Stoxx Europe gained 0.6%, Germany's DAX rose 0.7%, the FTSE 100 increased 0.4%, France's CAC advanced 0.7%, and the Swiss Market Index closed nearly 0.5% higher. In the UK, annual inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, rose 3.1% in August, up from 2.9% the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics. The reading matched the forecasts of analysts polled by Bloomberg. In corporate news, Banco Santander won an appeal against a previous ruling that ordered the payment of 677 million British pounds ($911.9 million) to Axa for past payment protection insurance mis-selling, the UK Court of Appeal said Tuesday. The verdict frees Santander from reimbursing AXA for regulatory compensation payments from store credit card products sold before December 2000, the court said. Santander and AXA didn't immediately respond to MT Newswires' requests for comment. Shares of the Spanish lender gained 0.4% in Madrid. Vodafone could miss out on up to 1.1 billion euros ($1.27 billion) in potential earnings after Patrick Drahi agreed to sell his 50% stake in German broadband joint venture OXG to Societe Generale, the Financial Times reported Wednesday. The FT reported that Vodafone had been due to receive 487 million euros in deferred payments and potentially another 595 million euros in earnout payments from Drahi's Geodesia Holding. Vodafone responded to an MT Newswires email, saying the 487 million euros in deferred payments would have started after OXG surpassed 1.5 million homes, with OXG recently passing 1 million homes. Altice has also invested about 100 million euros in equity and paid 120 million euros to Vodafone, it said. Vodafone added that OXG has good momentum and is the second-fastest fiber builder in Germany, saying that it plans to disclose further details of the agreement in its financial statements. The transaction has not yet been completed and is expected to close by the end of 2026, it added. Shares of the British telecommunications operator closed marginally lower in London. Nokia and C3IA signed a memorandum of understanding to support digital transformation across UK defense operations, the companies said Wednesday. The partnership will focus on resilient communications, secure information sharing and network interoperability across land, air, maritime, cyber and space domains, according to the companies. Nokia Defense and C3IA also said they plan to co-develop products across tactical communications, private 4G and 5G, situational awareness, command and control, sensing, autonomous systems and edge computing. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Shares of the Finnish telecommunications company rose 1.7% in Helsinki. Smith & Nephew said Wednesday that it has accepted $250 million of its 2.032% senior notes due 2030 in a cash tender offer, after holders tendered $431.8 million of the notes. The company will pay $878.90 for each $1,000 of notes accepted, excluding accrued interest, Smith & Nephew said. The notes had $900 million outstanding before the offer. The tender offer expired Tuesday, and the settlement date is expected to be Sept. 18, it added. Shares of the medical device maker edged higher in London.