BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The German market is trading higher on Wednesday, following firm cues from Asia and Wall Street overnight, ahead of the policy statement from the Federal Reserve. That said, investors did exercise caution amid apprehensions before the Scottish referendum on Thursday.
On the economic front, Eurozone inflation remained stable at 0.4 percent in August, final data from Eurostat showed. Monthly inflation was 0.1 percent. The statistical office earlier estimated an annual rate of 0.3 percent for August.
U.K. unemployment rate continued to fall in July, to the lowest since late 2008, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. The ILO jobless rate fell to 6.2 percent in May to July, down from 6.6 percent in February to April. The rate was seen at 6.3 percent.
Policymakers of Bank of England were split on rate decision again in September as two members preferred a quarter point rate hike, minutes of the meeting revealed.
Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale sought to raise key rate by 25 basis points, while all other seven members voted to keep the rate at 0.50 percent. All nine members voted to maintain the size of quantitative easing at 375 billion pounds.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.57 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is gaining 0.40 percent.
The DAX index is currently rising 0.48 percent.
adidas is gaining 2.3 percent and ThyssenKrupp is advancing 1.8 percent.
Drugmaker Merck is adding 1.1 percent.
Dialog Semiconductor is climbing 4.6 percent. The stock was raised to 'Buy' from 'Hold' at Commerzbank.
UBS initiated Stada with a 'Buy' rating. The stock added around 2 percent.
All other major markets in the region are also trading higher.
In Asia-Pacific, markets were mostly higher after China's central bank announced stimulus to the country's largest lenders to boost liquidity amid slowing growth.
In the U.S., futures point to a cautious open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive amid optimism about Fed statement. The Dow climbed 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq rose 0.8 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.8 percent.
Among commodities, crude for October delivery is losing $0.06 to $94.82 per barrel while December gold is falling $0.7 to $1236.0 a troy ounce.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX