Europeans Stock Inch Up For Seventh Day, ECB In Focus

(RTTNews) - European stocks posted very modest gains on Wednesday, as traders moved to the sidelines ahead of tomorrow's crucial European Central Bank policy decision.

The ECB is under heavy pressure to lower their benchmark interest rates to zero amid persistently low inflation and a sluggish economic recovery.

Eurozone producer prices declined at the fastest pace since end-2009, reinforcing fears of deflation in the currency bloc.

Industrial producer prices dropped 1.7 percent year-on-year in February, the biggest annual fall since December 2009, data from Eurostat showed Wednesday.

Stocks pushed higher in early dealing, but were flat by mid-day as traders largely ignored a relatively strong U.S. jobs report.

Still, the Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks added 0.10 percent, marking a seventh straight daily advance.

The German DAX rose 0.27 percent and UK's FTSE 100 advanced 0.16 percent. The French CAC 40 inched up 0.18 percent.

Deutsche Boerse lost 2.6 percent. The company reported criminal investigation against its subsidiary Clearstream.

Deutsche Post AG added 4.6 percent after forecasting its operating profit will rise through 2020.

Alcatel Lucent rose 3.3 percent, after reportedly receiving a positive broker recommendation.

Cupid, an operator of online dating websites, reported a pre-tax loss for the year, compared to a profit last year, amid a sharp drop in revenues. The stock plunged 14 percent.

In other economic news, employment in the U.S. private sector showed a notable increase in the month of March, according to a report released by payroll processor ADP.

ADP said private sector employment increased by 191,000 jobs in March following an upwardly revised increase of 178,000 jobs in February.