European shares dipped on Wednesday as a raft of lacklustre corporate earnings weighed on sentiment, while global markets brace for inflation data from the U.S. and Europe later in the week for fresh clues on interest rate outlooks.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.1% by 9:21 GMT, hovering a touch below recent highs.

The technology index lost 1.1% after a 6.6% fall in Just Eat Takeaway. The food delivery firm reported full-year revenue below market expectations.

UK's Reckitt missed fourth-quarter like-for-like net sales expectations, citing declines in the sales of cold and flu season products. The consumer goods group shed 8.6%, while the broader personal and household goods index was off 0.6%.

The real estate index led sectoral losses with a 1.3% decline after British homebuilder Taylor Wimpey flagged persistent weakness in the housing market amid delay in interest rate cuts and persistent macroeconomic concerns.

The STOXX 600 has been quick to come off all-time highs as pressure from lacklustre corporate earnings weighs on the already cautious market ahead of U.S. and Eurozone inflation data, where hotter-than-expected readings could set the markets back further.

The U.S. inflation reading is due on Thursday while the euro zone data is scheduled for Friday.

Preliminary February Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the euro zone is expected to drop to 2.9%, within a percentage point of the European Central Bank's 2% target for the first time in two years, keeping the ECB on track for rate cuts starting in June.

"On the attitudinal and behavioral sides, investor sentiment suggests the market continues to be in a vulnerable position and is at risk of correcting when the next negative catalyst arrives," Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said in a note.

Among individual stocks, Worldline shares tumbled 10.9% after the payments firm reported a full-year loss after it took a 1.15 billion euro ($1.25 billion) "goodwill impairment" linked to its merchant services activities.

St. James's Place nosedived 31.9% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after the British wealth manager swung to an annual loss.

Casino Guichard posted a net loss for 2023, reflecting falling sales and the impact of disposals and its restructuring. Shares of the retailer dropped 9.2%.

Swisscom dipped 0.9% following exclusive talks to buy all of Vodafone Italia for 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion) and merge the business with its Italian subsidiary Fastweb.

Shares in Vodafone rose 2.7% while the telecommunications index added 0.4% as the top performing sub-sector.

On the data front, investors await figures on February euro zone consumer confidence, due 1000 GMT. (Reporting by Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonia Cheema)