European equity markets were set to open higher on Wednesday as the recent rally in oil prices and global bond yields showed signs of cooling, offering some respite to stocks. Oil prices retreated from multi‑month highs after an unexpected increase in US crude inventories, while bond yields steadied following their recent upswing, with investors shifting attention to a pivotal week for central banks.
The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates later today, in what would be its first increase in nearly three years. By contrast, the Bank of England is forecast to leave rates unchanged on Thursday, even after fresh data showed UK consumer inflation accelerated to 3.1% in August, its highest level in five months.
Elsewhere in Europe, investors are awaiting Italy’s final inflation reading for August, alongside the latest Eurozone figures on industrial production and wages. In premarket trading, futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 were up 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.