Investing.com - European stock markets were higher after the open on Wednesday, as investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank's policy meeting on Thursday.
During European morning trade, the Euro Stoxx 50 edged up 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.55%, while Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.25%.
Investors turned their attention to the upcoming ECB meeting on Thursday, when it was expected to announce details of its €1.1 trillion quantitative easing program, which is due to start this month.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) tacked on 1.1% and 0.8%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) inched up 1% and 0.7%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) advanced 0.8%, while Spanish bank Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) jumped 1.1%.
Elsewhere, in London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose 0.25%, as investors reacted to a number of upbeat corporate earnings reports.
Standard Chartered (LONDON:STAN) shares rallied 5.5% after the Asia-focused bank reported better than expected financial results.
ITV (LONDON:ITV) surged 4.5% after announcing a 39% increase in pre-tax profits in the year ended December 31, 2014.
In the U.S., stock futures pointed to a modestly lower open. The Dow futures pointed to a loss of 0.1%, the {{8839|S&S&P 500utures}} shed 0.1%, while the {{8874|NaNasdaq 100utures}} dipped 0.1%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the ADP non-farm payrolls report for February, which comes two days ahead of Friday’s official nonfarm payrolls report. The country was also due to publish a report on services sector activity.