By Peter Nurse

- European stock markets are expected to open higher Wednesday, helped by a positive close on Wall Street, but a profit warning from banking giant Credit Suisse is likely to limit gains.

At 2 AM ET (0600 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.4% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.3%, and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.3%.

European equities are set to benefit from late gains on Wall Street overnight, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closing over 260 points, or 0.8%, higher as a surge in energy and a u-turn in tech eased the stumble in consumer stocks following Target’s warning on profit.

However, these gains are likely to be tentative with sentiment hit by the news that embattled lender Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) is set to experience a group-wide loss in the second quarter.

The bank cited the combination of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, significant monetary tightening by major central banks in response to the substantial increase in inflation, and the unwinding of COVID-related stimulus measures for the quarter’s woes.

Investors will also be keeping a wary eye on Thursday’s policy-setting meeting of the European Central Bank, with President Christine Lagarde and her colleagues expected to make clear that rate hikes will be coming in the third quarter in response to record inflation levels.

Economic data released Wednesday showed that German industrial production rose 0.7% on the month in April, an improvement from the drop of 3.7% the previous month.

French trade data and Italian retail sales for April are due later in the session, ahead of first quarter Eurozone employment and GDP numbers.

Elsewhere, Inditex (BME:ITX) is likely to be in focus after the world’s largest fast fashion retailer reported a 80% jump in net profit in the February-April period as sales surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

Pernod Ricard (EPA:PERP) offered up an upbeat outlook Wednesday, with the world’s second biggest spirits group saying it will aim to deliver annual organic sales growth at the upper end of a 4-7% growth range over the mid-term.

Oil prices inched higher Wednesday, maintaining the recent upward momentum as the U.S. summer driving season kicks into gear and China emerges from virus lockdowns.

Tuesday's U.S. crude supply data from industry body the American Petroleum Institute showed a build of 1.8 million barrels for the week ended June 3, but this is unlikely to provide much comfort as global crude and oil products supplies remain very tight.

Official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due at 10:30 AM ET (1430 GMT).

By 2 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% higher at $120.15 a barrel, after reaching its highest settlement since March 8 on Tuesday. The Brent contract rose 0.5% to $121.14, after closing at the highest since May 31.

Additionally, gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,851.40/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.0687.