European stocks drop on inflation concerns

London's FTSE 100 declined 0.7%, the CAC in Paris dropped 0.9%, Frankfurt's DAX slid 0.5%, while indices in Milan and Madrid shed 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively

A lack of economic data and corporate results prompted a mild sell-off across European stock markets on Tuesday, with investors choosing to wait before crucial inflation data later in the week.

The Stoxx 600 index dropped 3.13 points or 0.6% to 519.08. The index has traded within a narrow range of around five points since reaching a new all-time closing high of 524.71 on 15 May.

London's FTSE 100 declined 0.7%, while the CAC in Paris dropped 0.9% and Frankfurt's DAX slid 0.5%. Indices in Milan and Madrid shed 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.

A light economic calendar and lack of triggers following a prolonged weekend in the US and UK led to weaker trading on Tuesday, according to Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at IG.

Focus will now turn to eurozone inflation data on Wednesday and US personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data, which is the US Fed's targeted inflation measure, on Friday.

Wall Street got off to a negative start following the long weekend after comments from Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Neel Kashkari, who said in an interview with CNBC that the Fed is looking for "many months" of positive inflation data before it considers lowering interest rates.

Adding to inflation concerns was a jump in the price of oil, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude 2.5% at $79.67 a barrel and Brent up 1.1% at $83.82 amid concerns about geopolitical volatility in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, there were growing expectations that oil producing group OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, will extend output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day into the second half of the year when it meets at the weekend.