European equity markets were poised to open higher on Wednesday as investors turned their attention to the European Central Bank’s forum in Sintra, Portugal, where ECB President Christine Lagarde is scheduled to speak later in the day.
The central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates again in September after recent data showed Eurozone inflation reaching the ECB’s 2% target, reinforcing expectations of continued monetary easing.
On the data front, investors will be watching unemployment figures from the broader Eurozone, as well as from Spain and Italy.
Meanwhile, the session is expected to remain relatively quiet on the corporate side, with no major earnings releases scheduled.
In premarket trading, futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 and Stoxx 600 were up 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.