European stock futures higher; China's manufacturing recovery helps tone

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to open higher Wednesday, helped by signs of recovery in China’s important manufacturing base ahead of an economic data deluge. 

At 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded 0.2% higher, CAC 40 futures in France climbed 0.3% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.3%.

China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than a decade in February, as the recovery of the second largest economy in the world gained momentum after the relaxing of its severe anti-COVID restrictions. 

The widely-watched manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 52.6 in February, data showed on Wednesday, a jump from January’s figure of 50.1. 

China’s non-manufacturing PMI fared even better, rising to 56.3 in February, well above the prior month’s reading of 54.4. 

This news of growth in one of Europe’s key export markets is set to provide a boost to the European markets Wednesday.

That said, gains are likely to be limited after inflation data for the North Rhine-Westphalia region, Germany’s industrial heartland, showed an annual increase to 8.5% in February, from 8.3% the prior month.

Inflation data in both France and Spain came in higher than expected on Tuesday, suggesting that the European Central Bank will continue to lift borrowing costs in the months to come.

Investors will have more economic data to sift through during the course of the session, including S&P global manufacturing PMIs for the Eurozone, Germany and France as well as German unemployment numbers.

In the corporate sector, earnings from British home builder Persimmon (LON:PSN) will be in the spotlight, while Cellnex (BME:CLNX), Europe's largest mobile phone tower operator, reported a narrowing of its full-year net loss while meeting its core earnings target.

Oil prices rose Wednesday after the stronger-than-expected Chinese manufacturing activity data boosted optimism in the recovery of the world’s largest crude importer.

This has overshadowed another sharp rise in crude stockpiles in the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer and producer. 

Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed stocks rose by 6.2 million barrels last week. Official U.S. government data are due later in the session.

By 02:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.6% higher at $77.53 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.6% to $83.98. 

Additionally, gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,841.70/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.3% higher at 1.0607.