The French market is trading higher on Wednesday, as investor attention is centered on the policy meeting of the Federal Reserve, which is to be followed by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's briefing. The Asian markets ended mixed while the U.S. index futures indicate a higher open.
Minutes of Bank of England's latest policy meeting showed that at the final meeting of Mervyn King as governor, six members overturned his call for additional stimulus. As seen in the prior four meetings, King, Paul Fisher and David Miles sought an increase in quantitative easing by 25 billion pounds, while other 6 members of the committee voted to retain it at 375 billion pounds.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.05 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is falling 0.14 percent.
The CAC 40 index is currently up 0.1 percent.
Alcatel Lucent is surging 5 percent after the telecom equipment maker announced a restructuring plan.
Department store operator Kering is gaining 2.2 percent and oil-field services provider Technip is adding 1.7 percent.
STMicroelectronics and France Telecom are advancing 1.6 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX, the UK's FTSE 100 and Switzerland's SMI are in positive territory.
Across Asia/Pacific, markets had a mixed outing. Australia's All Ordinaries added around 1 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.8 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.7 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, major U.S. averages rose about a percent each as soft inflation data suggested the Federal Reserve would maintain a status quo on interest rates.
In the commodity space, crude for August delivery is adding $0.44 to $99.11 per barrel and August gold is rising $0.1 to $1367 a troy ounce.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.