Europe open: Stocks start higher as traders eye euro, German debt

Stocks began on a positive note, tracking gains overnight on Wall Street, even as traders kept one eye on the euro and another on short-term german government bond yields.

As of 0841 GMT the benchmark Stoxx 600 was up by 0.52% to 375.38, while the Dax rose 0.51% to 12,028.61 and the Cac-40 by 0.68% to 4,921.84.

"Calls for a firm open come after US bourses posted a solid return from a long weekend. Helped by corporate results, fresh record highs come via continued investor optimism about Trump policies that has now kept the S&P 500 Index from anything worse than a 1% fall for more than 90 days. A stronger USD suggests expectations of hawkish Fed minutes banking up this view this evening," said Mike Van Dulken, Head of Research at Accendo Markets.

Remarks from three regional Fed officials, Neil Kashkari, Patrick Harker and John Williams, in the previous session, appeared to indicate the US central bank was on track for three rate rises in 2017.

Traders were looking to the release of the minutes of the US central bank´s last meeting and the latest euro area consumer price data, both out later on Wednesday, which might set off further weakness in the euro.

Germany´s Dax was trading above the 12,000 point mark for the first time since April 2015. Over the past two years the benchmark index has risen by 7.92%, helped by a high weighting for cyclicals among its components.

Two-year German government bond yields were lower for a third consecutive session as some investors opted for the safety of a close substitute to cash.

In terms of economic data, Eurozone CPI figures for February were scheduled for release at 1000 GMT and the IFO institute's business confidence index for Germany at 0900 GMT.

On the corporate front, jet airline manufacturer Airbus Group posted a 3.6% drop in earnings before interest and tax to €3.96bn against a consensus of €3.80bn amid production challenges for civilian jets and a weaker performance from its defence arm.

Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange were set to offer further concessions to clinch the European Commission´s approval for their planned merger.

RWE announced it would resume dividend payouts only in 2018, contrary to some expectations in the market.