European markets advance

On Wednesday European stocks advanced with U.S. futures, shrugging off Asia declines as many investors returned from holidays to digest the latest earnings reports and shift their focus to the Federal Reserve’s imminent rate decision. The dollar dropped and gold climbed.

Miners, automakers, and technology shares led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index toward its best gain this week. S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq futures all rose as Apple Inc. advanced in pre-market trading on the back of strong results. Treasury 10-year yields pushed up to as high as 2.99 percent. The pound headed for its first increase in six days, while the euro pared an advance after manufacturing in the region grew at the slowest pace in more than a year and first-quarter economic growth ebbed.

Investors are turning their focus to the Federal Reserve decision and the Treasury’s announcement of its quarterly refunding plan, both due later on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, as U.S. trade officials prepare to visit China for talks Thursday and Friday, the People’s Bank of China weakened its daily currency fixing by more than traders and analysts had expected. The move raises questions about whether it may devalue further to counter American import tariffs.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.7 percent as of 5:22 a.m. New York time, to the highest in almost three months. Futures on the S&P 500 Index gained 0.2 percent. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.6 percent, with its fifth consecutive advance. Germany’s DAX Index surged 1.3 percent on the biggest jump in more than two weeks. The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 0.5 percent, the largest fall in a week.

Gold gained 0.5 percent to $1,310.00 an ounce. West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.6 percent to $67.66 a barrel. LME copper jumped 1.3 percent to $6,830.00 per metric ton, the largest surge in two weeks.