European stocks are expected to open in broadly higher territory Wednesday ahead of a U.K.-focused day for markets.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 4 points higher at 8,673, Germany’s DAX up 38 points at 23,142, France’s CAC 6 points higher at 8,108 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 87 points higher at 38,769, according to data from IG.
It’ll be a busy day for U.K. financial markets, with the “Spring Statement” from U.K. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves due just after midday local time, and official figures showing U.K. inflation cooled slightly to 2.8% in February.
Reeves is expected to announce billions of pounds worth of spending cuts as a way to close a budget shortfall caused by a rise in borrowing costs since her first fiscal plan released last fall.
Other data releases include French consumer confidence figures. There are no major earnings releases Wednesday.
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher overnight, tracking Wall Street gains on Tuesday on expectations that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs could be softer than expected earlier. U.S. stock futures were little changed Tuesday night.
U.S. markets closed slightly higher Tuesday despite the release of consumer confidence data showing that U.S. consumers’ near-term outlook on income, business and job prospects dropped to the lowest reading in 12 years.