European stocks are set to open modestly higher Wednesday, following a stronger Asia session, even as political risk concerns linger over asset prices in the region.

Britain's FTSE 100 is the odd benchmark called lower, according to financial bookmakers IG, with a dip of around 0.04% priced in, although better-than-expected full-year earnings from Rio Tinto plc (RIO) - Get Report may give the index some solid upward momentum. Germany's DAX index will likely add 0.11% at the open, with similar percentage gains anticipated for the CAC-40 in Paris and the FTSE MIB in Milan.

Rio posted stronger-than-expected full year earnings Wednesday and boosted its annual divided as the world's second-largest miner took full advantage of rising commodity prices.

Full year net profit came in at $5.1 billion, the company said, up from a loss of $866 million in 2015 and ahead of analysts' forecasts of $4.87 billion. The group will pay a full year dividend of $1.7 per share, down from 2015's $2.15 payout but firmly ahead of the higher end of market forecasts and will also buyback $500 million worth of shares.

Overnight in Asia, stocks rallied in the latter half of the session to end the trading in the green, with the Nikkei 225 rising 0.51% and passing the 19,000 mark for the week's first gain. The region-wide MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was marked 0.14% higher at 06:45 GMT after a 0.5% advance for Australia's S&P/ASX.

The U.S. dollar traded stronger overnight, as well, rising for the fifth consecutive session on renewed bets of a Federal Reserve rate increase in March and safe-haven flows from unsteady currencies in Europe and China. The dollar index, a measure of the greenback' strength against a basket of six major trading partners, was marked 0.03% higher at 100.39.

Oil prices extended declines from Tuesday's trading after the American Petroleum Institute reported a bigger-than-expected buildup in U.S. crude stocks, which the group said rose by 14.2 million barrels, the most in three months. WTI futures for March delivery were marked 0.93% lower at $51.68 per barrel while Brent crude contracts for the same month, the global benchmark, were trading 0.56% lower at $54.74.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average pared earlier gains but jumped 0.19% to finish at 20,090, well off a new intraday record high of 20,155. The Nasdaq also gained 0.19%, posting a new record close of 5,674. The S&P 500 struggled for direction, closing up just 0.02%.

Oil prices in the U.S. Tuesday settled down 1.6% to $52.17 a barrel, dragging the energy sector down. Shares of Chevron (CVX) - Get Report declined 1.4%, Anadarko Petroleum (APC) - Get Report dropped 2.9% and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) - Get Report fell 2%.

U.S. futures prices suggest a stronger day on Wall Street, with the Dow rising 32 points, a 2.5 point gain for the S&P 500 and a 6.4 point bump for the Nasdaq.