With investors continuing to pay attention to the state of the international banking industry, stock markets begin Wednesday with a little gain.

With investors continuing to pay attention to the state of the international banking industry, European stock markets are anticipated to begin Wednesday with a little gain.

As authorities on both sides of the Atlantic work to convince the markets of the industry's fundamental soundness, optimism is growing that the crisis engulfing the global banking sector may be coming to an end.

The governing council members of the European Central Bank praised the "strong capital buffers, good liquidity and increased profitability from higher interest rates" earlier this week. ECB officials have spoken widely about the resilience of the European banking regulatory framework.

At the height of the crisis, the ECB also increased interest rates by a significant 50 basis points earlier this month, demonstrating its confidence in the banks of the area.

After appointing previous leader Sergio Ermotti as its new CEO and giving him the responsibility of guiding through its acquisition of troubled rival Credit Suisse, UBS will be in the spotlight on Wednesday.

Adding to the indications that confidence is strengthening in Europe's largest economy following the unexpected strength of the Ifo report earlier this week, the forward-looking GfK German Consumer Climate Index for April came in at -29.5, an improvement from the corrected -30.6 the prior month.

When industry data revealed a shockingly high draw in U.S. crude stockpiles, indicating to tighter supply in the short term, oil prices increased on Wednesday, gaining for the third day in a row.

According to statistics from the American Petroleum Institute, U.S. crude oil stockpiles decreased by a little over 6 million barrels in the week that ended on March 24th, vs an anticipated slight increase.

Later in the session, the U.S. EIA will present its official weekly report.

(Investing.com, Reuters.com)