European markets are expected to open higher Wednesday on growing expectations of another rate hike in the United States before the year-end.

The FTSE 100 is set to open up by 5 points at 7,277; the DAX is seen higher by 14 points at 12,607 and the CAC 40 is set to begin higher by 4 points at 5,264.

Janet Yellen, the chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve said Tuesday that it would be “imprudent” to keep monetary policy on hold waiting for inflation to reach 2 percent and that moving “too gradually” could be risky. The U.S. dollar and bond yields jumped Wednesday on such remarks.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said that a military option for North Korea isn’t the preferred choice but if this were to be the case, it would be “devastating” for Pyongyang. Asian investors trod cautiously on Wednesday as amid the geopolitical tensions.

In Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron presented key proposals to move forward with European integration. The former investment banker showed a clear and ambitious vision for the European Union, calling for a euro zone that is the “heart of Europe’s global economic power.”

In the U.K. the Bank of England said that it is expecting 130 financial firms from Europe to ask for a license to operate in the Britain once it officially leaves the European Union, Reuters reported.

In the corporate world, Alstom and Siemens have confirmed they are merging their rail operations with Henri Poupart-Lafarge as its chief executive.

Also, Finnish power utility Fortum is set to launch a takeover bid for Uniper totaling 8.05 billion euros ($9.5 billion).

On the data front, French and Italian consumer confidence numbers are out at 7.45 a.m. and 9 a.m. London time, respectively.