Investing.com – European stock markets are seen opening marginally higher Wednesday, with investors waiting for news from the Federal Reserve on a busy day for corporate earnings. 

At 2:10 AM ET (0710 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.1% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.3%. 

A number of blue-chip European companies released quarterly earnings Wednesday, and the banking sector is likely to be in the spotlight.

Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) posted its best quarterly profit since the first quarter of 2014, as strength at the investment bank helped offset the headwinds of an ongoing restructuring program and the coronavirus pandemic.

Spain’s Santander (MC:SAN) said its net profit in the first quarter jumped almost five times as it didn’t book Covid-19 related provisions like a year ago and its U.S. unit posted a solid performance.

U.K. Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) also reported a strong quarterly result, with profit after tax of 1.4 billion pounds ($1.9 billion), supported by the release of expected credit loss provisions, given the improved economic outlook.

Additionally, Dassault Systemes (PA:DAST) posted a rise in both operating profit and revenue in the first quarter, while the French software maker tweaked its full-year outlook.

Earnings from the likes of Covestro (DE:1COV), Delivery Hero (DE:DHER), Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) are also due, among others.

Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve wraps up its two-day policy meeting later Wednesday, but is not expected to make any changes to its ultra-easy monetary policies despite a steady run of good economic news in recent months.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference shortly after the decision is announced, and he is expected to reaffirm that easy monetary policy will remain in place for a prolonged period and dismiss any suggestions of tapering bond purchases.

On the data front in Europe, Germany’s GfK survey of consumer sentiment disappointed, falling to -8.8 in May from -6.1 the previous month, reflecting the new nationwide regime of restrictions to contain the pandemic.

Oil prices edged higher Wednesday as traders digested the competing influences of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, including Russia, a grouping known as OPEC+, deciding to proceed with plans to move forward with a gradual output increase and a rise in U.S. crude stockpiles.

U.S. crude futures traded 0.4% higher at $63.21 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.4% to $66.14.

An OPEC+ committee agreed late Tuesday to increase crude production as previously planned from May, amid growing confidence that there will be a strong demand rebound this year, even as coronavirus cases rise in countries such as India. 

However, this positive news has to be balanced against the American Petroleum Institute stating that U.S. crude stockpiles rose by over 4.3 million barrels last week.

Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,768.95/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.2077.

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian shares started cautiously on Monday as investors wait to see if U.S. earnings can justify sky-high valuations, while bond markets could be tested by what should be very strong readings for U.S. inflation and retail sales this week.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was off 0.05% in slow early trade. Tokyo’s Nikkei edged up 0.1%, while South Korean stocks rose 0.2%.

Investors were anxious to see how shares in Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group Holding Ltd fared after China slapped a record 18 billion yuan ($2.75 billion) fine on the e-commerce giant.

Reverberations could be felt beyond China as over a third of the stock is held by U.S. investors, and given the stock making up more than 8% of the MSCI EM index.

Some felt the decision was already in the share price.

“Ever since the Ant IPO was cancelled and with the antitrust laws in the pipeline, the market has expected that Alibaba would pay a price,” said Louis Tse, managing director at Wealthy Securities in Hong Kong.

“I think it’s good for the share price now that the news has been delivered and it is cleared up at last.”

Nasdaq futures were down 0.3% early Monday, while S&P 500 futures also eased 0.3%.

Growth and tech stocks had seen something of a revival last week as U.S. 10-year Treasury yields retreated to 1.67%, from a 14-month top of 1.776%.

Thomas Mathews, a markets economist at Capital Economics, doubted the rally in bonds would last, however.

“Given the pace of the economic recovery and the Fed’s apparent unwillingness to stand in the way of higher yields, we think long-term yields will rise again before long,” he said.

Over the weekend, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy was about to start growing much more quickly, though the coronavirus remained a threat.

Data out this week are expected to show U.S. inflation jumped in March, while retail sales is seen surging perhaps even with a double-digit gain.

“Rapid economic growth, supported by reopening and accommodative fiscal policy, may disproportionately benefit the sectors of the stock market that are more sensitive to the health of the economy,” said Mathews at Capital.

“And the composition of that growth is likely to be more skewed towards those sectors than it might have been during a typical economic expansion.”

It is also likely to show in profits. The banks kick off first-quarter earnings season this week with Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) scheduled to report on Wednesday.

Analysts expect profits for S&P 500 firms to show a 25% jump from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv IBES data. That would be the strongest performance for the quarter since 2018.

The pullback in yields was enough to see the dollar come off the boil last week. It was last trading at 92.208 against a basket of currencies, down from a peak of 93.439.

It was flat on the yen at 109.73, and short of its March peak of 110.96. The euro was holding at $1.1897 and above its recent trough of $1.1702.

Gold prices were idling at $1,740 an ounce, having failed to sustain a top of $1,758 last week. [GOL/]

Oil prices fell around 2% last week as production increases and renewed COVID-19 lockdowns in some countries offset optimism about a recovery in fuel demand. [O/R]

Brent was quoted up 33 cents on Monday at $63.28 a barrel, while U.S. crude added 25 cents to $59.57.