European markets are set to open slightly higher Wednesday morning, while oil prices climbed after the U.S. moved to pressure allies to stop buying Iranian crude. The FTSE 100 is seen 12 points higher at 7,567; the CAC is expected to open up around 7 points at 5,298 while the DAX is poised to start 40 points higher at 12,282, according to IG. The U.S. demanded all countries stop imports of Iranian oil from November on Tuesday, exacerbating concerns about a shortage of crude at a time when Venezuela's production is in freefall and the market is grappling with short-term disruptions from Canada and Libya. International benchmark Brent crude traded up around 0.3 percent at $76.56 Wednesday morning, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) edged up around 0.2 percent at $70.74. However, gains in energy stocks were largely overshadowed by the fragile mood regarding global trade. The prospect of a settlement to Sino-U.S. tensions continued to look remote Wednesday. In Asia, weakness in Chinese stocks and the yuan appeared to weigh on investor sentiment. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, dropped a further 0.3 percent after slipping to a two-year low in the previous session. Back in Europe, France and Italy were both scheduled to publish consumer confidence data for June during mid-morning deals Wednesday. Source: CNBC
