La Defense business district in Paris, France, February 6, 2023.
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LONDON — European markets were set to open modestly higher on Wednesday as investors looked to the latest earnings and economic data for clues about the outlook for global stock markets.
The UK's FTSE 100 is expected to open at 8,375, up about 21 points in the latest instalment, Germany's DAX is expected to rise 17 points to 18,717, France's CAC is expected to rise 15 points to 7,587, and Italy's FTSE MIB is expected to rise 87 points to 33,969.
That came after a choppy trade on Tuesday when the pan-European stock index, the Stoxx 600, closed slightly higher. Travel stocks led the gains after low-cost airline Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary told Reuters he now expects fares to fall less than previously expected in the key July-September quarter.
Meanwhile, copper prices hit their highest level in nearly six weeks on Tuesday, boosted by a recovery in demand and optimism about a September interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Wednesday will see the release of the latest consumer confidence indexes from Germany and France, as well as earnings reports from several major European companies, including Lego, Prudential, Novonesis and Brunello Cucinelli, and Nvidia in the United States.
Artificial intelligence giant Nvidia's results could offer some clues about the longevity of the tech and AI industry and what the future holds for the sector, which has grown rapidly this year.
U.S. stock futures were slightly lower early Wednesday after Wall Street's gains on Tuesday, with attention focused on Nvidia.
Asia Pacific markets fell as investors worried that Australia's July inflation rate came in higher than expected.
