The European markets were expected to open higher Wednesday as stocks bounced back ahead of an EU summit aimed at resolving the regional debt crisis.
The FTSE was called higher by 16 points, the DAX was indicated 25 points higher and the CAC-40 was expected to open up by 8 points.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy meet Wednesday in Berlin in preparation for the summit in Brussels Thursday.
Merkel has already indicated that there will be no comprehensive resolution to the crisis at the summit and expectations of a single solution were unrealistic.
The euro recouped some ground versus the dollar Wednesday after easing on Tuesday.
In the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron will have to answer questions in parliament for his decision to employ Andy Coulson, former News of the World editor, as his communication chief in 2007, after Coulson resigned following the arrest of two employees of the paper over phone-hacking. Coulson has denied any wrongdoing.
There were a slew of earnings results on Wall Street Tuesday, notably Apple , whose earnings beat even the most optimistic of expectations, with revenues driven by sales of the iPhone and iPad.
Goldman Sachs reported earnings far below market expectations with a fall in revenues from their fixed income, currency and commodities trading.
In the US results are expected from American Express and Intel after the bell Wednesday.