- European stock markets are expected to open marginally higher Wednesday, as investors cautiously await the release of key U.S. inflation data while the earnings season continues.

At 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, in France climbed 0.1% and the contract in the U.K. rose 0.1%.

Global sentiment received a boost when the U.S. hinted last week that it could pause its aggressive monetary tightening cycle at its next meeting in June if the data allowed it to do so.

Friday’s official report came in generally stronger than expected, and now financial markets are in holding patterns as they await the release of the U.S. due later on Wednesday.

The reading is expected to show that the , which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, increased by 5.5% in April on a year-over-year basis, after a 5.6% increase a month earlier. 

The rate is expected to increase by 5% annually, suggesting inflation remains sticky, well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% annual target.

Back in Europe, rose 0.4% on the month in April, an annual increase of 7.2%, as prices remained elevated in the eurozone’s largest economy.

data for March and the latest figures are due later in the session.

In corporate news, ABN Amro (AS:) posted a 77% jump in first-quarter net profit earlier Wednesday, with the Dutch bank helped by rising interest rates and lower costs.

(EPA:) offered up positive guidance for the current fiscal year, with the French train maker adding market momentum remained very positive with a growing pipeline of orders. However, it delayed its mid-term targets by one year due to high inflation.

Earnings from the likes of ASOS (LON:), Continental (ETR:), E.ON (ETR:), Tui (ETR:), (EPA:) and (BIT:) will also be studied during the session.

Oil prices fell Wednesday after industry data pointed to an unexpected build in U.S. crude stocks, raising concerns over a possible fall in demand from the largest consumer in the world.

Data from the , released Tuesday, indicated that U.S. crude inventories rose by about 3.6 million barrels in the week ended May 5, while gasoline stockpiles rose by just under 400,000 barrels.

are due later in the session, and traders will also study the U.S. inflation numbers for clues about future Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.

By 02:00 ET, futures traded 0.7% lower at $73.22 a barrel, while the contract dropped 0.7% to $76.89.

Additionally, fell 0.4% to $2,035.80/oz, while traded 0.1% higher at 1.0968.