Europe's main stock markets are trading slightly higher on Wednesday morning, ahead of the release of monthly US inflation data and the minutes of the latest US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, which could provide clues as to the direction of interest rates.

In Paris, the CAC 40, which is trading at an all-time high, gained 0.26% to 7,409.59 points around 07:40 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 advanced by 0.26% and in Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.19%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index gained 0.03%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.1% and the Stoxx 600 0.09%.

Wall Street futures forecast a rise of 0.14% for the Dow Jones, but a fall of 0.01% for the Standard & Poor's 500 and 0.22% for the Nasdaq, following a mixed session in which only the Dow Jones finished in the green.

US consumer price index (CPI) statistics for March are due at 12:30 GMT, and the Reuters consensus forecasts a deceleration in CPI to 0.2% over one month and 5.2% over one year. The core CPI index, the one most closely followed by the Fed, could however accelerate to 5.6% year-on-year from 5.5% in February.

The minutes of the Fed's March 21-22 meeting are scheduled for 18:00 GMT.

These two publications could provide information on the trajectory of rates, as the market is counting with a 66% probability on a 25 basis point rise in the cost of credit in May, according to the Fedwatch barometer.

"Investors are hoping that Wednesday's inflation data could indicate that the Fed is nearing the end of its rate hike cycle," said Harry Ottley, economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

On the stock market, the positive trend in Europe was driven in particular by the defensive real estate sector (+0.69%), with Unibail Rodamco, for example, gaining 1.06%, the best performer on the CAC 40.

In the luxury sector, where LVMH (+0.29%) is due to publish its quarterly results after the close, L'Oréal

lost 0.86% after Deutsche Bank downgraded its recommendation on the stock to "hold" from "buy".

Scor gained 3.34% after announcing its financial and solvency targets for this year.

Elsewhere in Europe, truck manufacturer AB Volvo

jumped 7.97% on the back of record first-quarter profits. (Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)