12:05 PM EDT, 05/14/2025 (MT Newswires) -- European stock markets closed lower in Wednesday trading as the Stoxx Europe 600 was off 0.24%, Germany's DAX declined 0.47%, the FTSE 100 slipped 0.21%, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.47%, and the Swiss Market Index lost 0.27%.

In Germany, the annual inflation rate continued to slowly decline to 2.1% in April, compared with 2.2% in March and 2.3% each in January and February, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, rose to 2.9% from 2.6% the previous month.

In Spain, annual inflation declined to 2.2% in April from 2.3% in March, according to the Spanish Statistical Institute. Core inflation rose to 2.4% in April from 2.0% the previous month.

And in corporate news, shares of Burberry Group surged 17% on the London Stock Exchange after the luxury fashion house said it will reduce its workforce by 1,700 as part of its cost-cutting plan. The company expects the measures to provide 100 million pounds ($133 million) of annual savings by fiscal year 2027.

However, other luxury brands were tracking lower on the Parisian bourse L'Oreal dropped 3.3%, as Kering lost 3.1%, and Louis Vuitton was down 2.2%.

Spanish telecommunications operator Telefonica is drawing up plans to take control of the Virgin Media O2 joint venture it owns with Liberty Global, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Telefonica and Liberty Global did not immediately reply to requests for comment from MT Newswires. Shares of Telefonica were down 1.8% in Madrid.

British pharmaceutical company GSK has agreed to acquire Boston Pharmaceuticals' investigational steatotic liver disease treatment efimosfermin alfa for up to $2 billion in cash, the companies said Wednesday.