European shares and bonds rallied and the dollar gave back some of its post-trade data gains Wednesday as Federal Reserve minutes helped ease speculation of aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes.
U.S. crude oil futures fell to six-week lows below $52 a barrel ahead of U.S. government data due at 1430 GMT which is expected to show another increase in crude oil inventories.
Traders also turned their focus to U.S. retail sales data at 1230 GMT, which is forecast to rise 0.7 percent in March and will provide some steer on the health of the world's biggest economy.
Euro zone government debt yields tracked an overnight slide in U.S. Treasury yields, falling to their lowest levels in two months. That was after Tuesday's Fed minutes showed U.S. policy makers increasingly concerned about inflation but in no hurry to hike rates aggressively.
"Everyone was looking for the most hawkish outcome from the Fed minutes and it was something short of that," said a Bund trader.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares rose 0.4 percent and neared a one-week high, led up by retailers after Carrefour reported slightly better- than-expected first quarter sales and brokers upgraded their price targets on the stock.
European stock markets also took their cue from Wall Street, which reversed losses after the Fed minutes but was expected to open slightly down.