(RTTNews) - European stocks may open higher on Wednesday, tracking an intra-day rebound in Asian stocks, higher U.S stock futures and firm commodity prices. After a mixed start, Asian stocks edged higher on Wednesday after data revealed Japanese exports posted the smallest drop in a year in October and the U.S Fed raised its 2010 GDP forecast.

The U.S dollar fell against major global currencies and was last trading at a 2-day low of 1.6636 against the pound. On the other hand, crude oil price, which closed at a five-week low yesterday, showed modest gains trading at $76.18 a barrel ahead of an weekly oil inventory report from the U.S Energy Administration later in the day.

In economic news, the global economic recovery is still fragile and extraordinary support measures are still needed, European Central Bank Governing Council member and Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos said on Tuesday. "There are signs of recovery in the global economy but significant risks remain," said Provopoulos at a briefing of the Greek parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee in Athens.

In sharp contrast to this perception, Swiss National Bank Chairman Jean-Pierre Roth said separately that current unconventional policy measures will have to be unwound soon to avoid medium-term inflationary pressures as the economy recovers.

Investors look ahead to the release of a slew of reports from the U.S, and the U.K's GDP report for the third quarter.

On Wall Street, stocks closed lower by slim margins on Tuesday amid some lackluster economic data. While the downward revision to the pace of GDP growth in the third quarter dragged down stock prices, better than expected data on consumer confidence prevented a pronounced fall.

The Federal Reserve released the minutes of the November Federal Open Market Committee Meeting, revealing a general consensus that a weak labor market will keep inflation subdued as the economy recovers. The Dow ended down 0.16% and the Nasdaq by 0.31%, while the S&P 500 closed mostly unchanged.

In corporate news, Bank of England revealed Tuesday that it had handed out secret bailout loans worth ??61.6 billion to the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS to save the two banks from collapse during the financial crisis last year.

Christian Dior SA announced an interim dividend of 44 cents per share to be paid on December 2.

Dutch financial services company ING Groep NV is convening an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to receive shareholder nod for selling its insurance businesses and to approve a 7.5-billion euro rights issue.

Nutreco Holding NV received European Union antitrust approval to acquire control of the Spanish and Portuguese animal-nutrition businesses of Cargill Inc.

The European markets fell on Tuesday after a government report showed a downward revision to the pace of U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European blue chips closed 0.67% lower, while the narrower DJ Stoxx 50 index fell 0.67%. Around Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.59%, France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.75% and Germany's DAX index fell 0.55%.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2009 RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved