European stocks closed higher on Wednesday, turned in another positive performance after recent gains amid rising optimism about interest rate cuts by central banks in the second or third quarter of this year. Fairly encouraging batch of corporate earnings updates too helped underpin sentiment.

The Canadian market is notably lower Wednesday morning, weighed down by disappointing results from some big name companies, including Shopify Inc. A bit of uncertainty about the outlook for Fed interest rates also appear to be forcing investors into a defensive mood.

Ride-hailing and delivery platform Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER) reported Wednesday a net loss for the first quarter that sharply widened from last year, hurt by a huge net unrealized loss related to the revaluation of Uber's equity investments. Loss per share for the quarter missed analysts' expectations, while quarterly revenues topped it.

The Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing a pullback by U.S. wholesale inventories in the month of March. The report said wholesale inventories fell by 0.4 percent in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February. The decrease by wholesale inventories matched economist estimates.

Mortgage applications in the U.S. saw a notable rebound in the week ended May 3rd, according to a report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday.

Expert market comment made by senior analyst Alex Kuptsikevich of the FxPro Analyst Team: German industrial production slide brings closer ECB’s rate cut

Expert market comment made by senior analyst Alex Kuptsikevich of the FxPro Analyst Team: US indices are heading towards highs

The USD/JPY pair is on the rise again this Wednesday, recovering more than half of its previous losses despite ongoing warnings from Japanese authorities about sharp fluctuations in the yen. Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki reiterated today that the government is prepared to act against excessive currency volatility.

Fed expectations drive the market; three Fed speakers on the wires today. Dollar recovers but all eyes are on the US stocks and Treasury yields. The pound prepares for the BoE meeting as elections gain more airtime. Yen on the back foot again; gold steady amid the Israeli ground operation

Bitcoin fell 0.2% against the dollar after a 1.8% rise. Amazon's stock corrected by 0.1%, but the MACD indicator is positive. The Australian dollar dropped 0.3% against the dollar, with an overbought market. Gold declined 0.5% against the dollar, with a negative MACD signal. Oil prices closed lower, and the Canadian dollar weakened. Bitcoin exchange inflows are at decade lows.