Markets Overview: (Source: Bloomberg, FT, Reuters, DJ Newswires)

UK 100 called to open +60pts at 6996 in an early morning futures surge off support at 6925, very much back in an upwards channel that puts the index just 10 points from a platform to test prior all-time highs North of resistance at 7000. Watch levels: Bullish 7050, Bearish 6900.

The positive open comes after the news that Royal Dutch Shell is to purchase BG group for about £47b in cash, which would be the 14^th largest M&A transaction in history, indicating the likelihood of another Oil & Gas M&A party like the one seen in the late 1990s. European markets maintained upwards momentum into Tuesday’s close as investors were reassured by reports that Greece will meet a €450M loan repayment to the IMF this week. Greek government bond yields obediently fell; the 3-year yield was down over 250 basis points at close. Oh, and there’s also that meeting between Tsipras and Putin. Will they jump into bed together? What would that mean for the Eurozone?

In US Fed news, Minneapolis Fed Governor Kocherlakota argued dovishly that the FOMC should hold off on rate rises until the second half of 2016 and added that a theoretical argument could even be made for restarting asset purchases (QE). While we’re on the subject, the ECB announced that Eurozone government and corporate debt purchases rose to €52.5B as of 3 April, a weekly increase of €11.5B, while the ECB’s Mersch indicated that the pace of QE could be adjusted to keep inflation in check until stability is reached.

US stocks are recovering this morning having traded flat in futures trading overnight after closing lower on Tuesday. Investors on the other side of the pond are reluctant to make moves ahead of the FOMC meeting minutes later today. US Light Crude prices fell off in US Tuesday trading after the latest EIA short-term report which cut world oil demand growth forecasts and lifted crude oil production estimates.

Asian Bourses seemed to ignore Wall St. for once and posted gains overnight with improved iron ore and crude prices buoying markets there. In Japan, the boJ pledged to continue super-QE until the 2% inflation target is reached. A weak Yen as a result helped the Nikkei to a positive session thus far. Japan’s current account came out of a 4-month decline in February to post an increase of 140% YoY.

In focus today will be German Factory orders expected to increase, a result of QE perhaps, while Eurozone Retail PMI and Sales see in the afternoon with mixed forecasts. US Mortgage applications and the EIA weekly oil stocks follow.

US Light ($53) and Brent ($58) crude are down this morning as traders digest news that Saudi Arabia booked record oil production last month ahead of fresh weekly EIA stockpiles data. The Energy Information Administration will report its US crude oil inventories for the past week later in the day, with analysts predicting a rise of 3.28M barrels for the week ending April 3.

Gold ($1209) edged lower on Tuesday as the dollar recovered and global shares rose, but uncertainty about the timing of a U.S. interest rate increase kept bullion not far from a seven-week high above $1,20. The dollar basket climbed, aided by higher Treasury yields as stock markets advanced with investors moving into riskier assets for a second straight day, denting gold's appeal as a safe haven asset

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Key Overnight Macro Data: (Source: Reuters/DJ Newswires)

• Japan                    Current Account Balance              Beat, Increased
• Japan                    Current Account Balance Adj.     Missed, Decreased
• Japan                    Trade Balance                                    Beat, Less Negative
• Japan                    Eco Watchers Survey Current     Beat, Improved
• Japan                    Eco Watchers Survey Outlook    Missed, Improved

See Live Macro Calendar for full data line-up, incl. consensus expectations