European stocks opened broadly lower on Wednesday ahead of a U.K.-focused day for markets.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.7% lower by 9:25 a.m. in London, with most sectors seeing losses.
Wednesday will be a busy day for U.K. financial markets, with the "Spring Statement" from U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves due just after midday local time, and official figures showing U.K. inflation cooled slightly to 2.8% in February.
Reeves is expected to announce billions of pounds worth of spending cuts as a way to close a budget shortfall caused by a rise in borrowing costs since her first fiscal plan released last fall.
London's FTSE 100
— which had earlier bucked the trend to trade higher — edged slightly below the flatline by 9:25 U.K. time. Other major bourses sustained heavier losses, with both the French CAC 40 and Germany's DAX shedding around 0.8%.
Source: CNBC
