European markets are expected to start trading higher on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan announced earlier today it kept its interest rates unchanged at -0.1% but introduced a number of changes to its monetary policy approach.

DAX futures rose 0.82% to 10,472 points and Euro Stoxx 50 futures jumped 1.22% to 2,984 points (both 8:15 a.m. CET).

The euro gained 0.74% against the Japanese yen to 114.24 and weakened 0.18% against the U.S. dollar to 1.1131 (8:17 a.m. CET).

The U.S. Federal Reserve is also due to announce its monetary policy decision later today. Yesterday, markets assigned a 15% probability to September rate hike, according to 30-Day Fed Fund futures prices.

Image: EPA / Frank Rumpenhorst