European stocks were set to rise on Wednesday, tracking gains in U.S. and Asian shares after a number of U.S. regional banks posted forecast-beating results while tech shares could benefit from a reassuring outlook from Intel.
Energy stocks could continue to rally as crude oil prices remained buoyant.
Financial bookmakers, or spread betters, in London expected Britain's FTSE 100 index to open between 46 and 52 points higher, the German DAX 45 to 49 points higher, and the French CAC 40 up 45 to 56 points.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of major European shares rose 0.5 percent on Tuesday, to 1,281.62 points, snapping a five-session losing streak as Tesco delivered upbeat results while energy stocks were boosted by record oil prices and a big oil discovery offshore Brazil.
Investors await quarterly results from Wall Street firm JPMorgan Chase on Wednesday, followed by Merrill Lynch on Thursday and Citigroup on Friday, that could shed light on the global credit crisis.