European stocks drifted lower Wednesday as investors trim bets in the region amid multi-year highs and keep a keen eye on political developments in the United States after President Donald Trump fired his FBI Director James Comey.

The region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 Index, the broadest measure of share prices, was marked 0.2% lower in the opening hour of trading Wednesday at 395.1 points, about 0.3% from its 52-week high of 396.24 it reached yesterday. Major benchmarks around the region were also seeing modest pullbacks, with Switzerland's SMI leading the decliners thanks in part to a 1.5% fall for Roche AG (RHHBY) after the drugmaker said its immuno-oncology drug Tecentriq failed a crucial trial.

Britain's FTSE 100 was marked 0.16% lower in the opening hour, weighed down in part by media stocks after ITV plc (ITVPY) , the country's biggest listed free-to-air broadcaster, warned on first half advertizing revenues.

Broader market sentiment, however, was muted thanks in part to yesterday's move by President Trump to fire FBI Direction Comey after he was said to have misstated several facts related to his investigation of Hilary Clinton's use of a private email server.

Comey was also leading an investigation into Russia's alleged influence in the 2016 election and potential ties between Moscow and Trump campaign officials.

A further component to the market's cautious tone was linked to comments from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who told Reuters yesterday that the President's pledge to grow the economy at a 3% clip "is certainly not achievable this year" but could be met once the Administration passes a tax reform bill and trims business regulation.

Early indications from U.S. equity futures suggest a pullback at the opening bell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average poised to fall around 65 points, or 0.31%, with a smaller 0.22% decline anticipated for the broader S&P 500. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is set to open 0.12% down from its Tuesday close of 6,120,59 points.

The European moves follow marginally firmer gains in Asia stocks overnight, which saw the U.S. dollar pull back from a three-week high and crude prices rise amid speculation that Saudi Arabia would limit supplies to the region in an effort to rebalance supplies.

WTI futures for June delivery were marked 0.8% higher at $46.25 while Brent contracts for the same month, the global benchmark, were seen 0.7% higher at $49.10.

TheStreet's Jim Cramer used his his "Off the Charts" segment on Mad Money this week to speak with Carley Garner, a technician who's the co-founder of DeCarley Trading, as well as a contributor to RealMoney.com and the author of Higher Probability Commodity Trading.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/14127625/1/is-there-an-oil-rebound-ahead-off-the-charts-with-jim-cramer.html

Overnight in Asia, the region-wide MSCI Asia ex-Japan index added 0.12% while the Nikkei 225 rebounded modestly with a 0.29% gain to a 17-month high of 19,900.09.

However, those gains came before a Toyota Motor Co. (TM) - Get Report posted weaker-than-expected full year results and cautioned that profits in the current fiscal year are likely to fall sharply as the yen strengthens and sales stall.

The group forecast total vehicle sales of around 10.25 million for the current fiscal year, little changed from year ending in 2017, and net income of ¥1.5 trillion, a figure that fall significantly short of the FactSet consensus of ¥1.9 trillion.