By Peter Nurse

- European stock markets are expected to open higher Wednesday, continuing the positive start to the new year ahead of the release of more important economic data.

At 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.3% higher, in France climbed 0.3%, while the contract in the U.K. also rose 0.3%.

The start of the year is packed with a string of economic data. European stocks closed higher on Tuesday, helped by coming in below expectations, easing for a second month in a row in December due to falling energy prices.

The economic numbers to digest Wednesday include figures and data for the Eurozone, while in the U.S. there are more scheduled as well as the from the last Federal Reserve meeting.

Investors will likely comb through the report for any hints on what Fed policymakers are thinking on the direction of interest rates. The current market sentiment is expecting a quarter-percentage point increase in the benchmark rate at the Fed's next meeting, while divergence between doves and hawks regarding how high the terminal rate should go will also be of interest.

Oil prices fell Wednesday, continuing the weak start to the new year, on concerns that economic activity will be hit by a global recession and thus weigh on demand in 2023.

This followed comments by the head of the International Monetary Fund, who warned that much of the global economy would see a tough year in 2023 as the main engines of global growth - the United States, Europe, and China - are all experiencing weakening activity.

The industry group is scheduled to release weekly data on U.S. crude inventories later in the session, a day later than usual following Monday’s holiday.

By 02:00 ET, futures traded 0.7% lower at $76.41 a barrel, while the contract fell 0.6% to $81.62. Both contracts fell over 4% on Tuesday.

Additionally, rose 0.5% to $1,854.65/oz, while traded 0.2% higher at 1.0568.