Wall Street Set To Open Broadly Higher

The Labor Department’s Report on Consumer Prices might get special attention on Wednesday.

Asian shares finished broadly higher, while European shares are trading mostly up.
Earlier cues from the U.S. Futures Index point to broadly higher open for Wall Street.

As of 7.40 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 101.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 0.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 32.75 points.

The Nasdaq soared 464.66 points or 3.7 percent to 13,073.82, recording its biggest single-day gain since last November. The S&P 500 also jumped 54.09 points or 1.4 percent to 3,875.44, while the Dow posted a much more modest gain, inching up 30.30 points or 0.1 percent to 31,832.74.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index for February is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 0.4 percent, while it was up 0.3 percent in the prior month.

The Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations for March will be issued at 10.00 am ET. In the prior year-over-year the Index was up 2.2 percent.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, crude oil inventories were 21.6 million barrels. Gasoline Inventories were down 13.6 million barrels.

Ten-year Treasury Note auction will be held 1.00 pm ET.

The Treasury Statement for February will be released at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $267.5 billion, while in the prior month, the deficit was $162.8 billion.

Asian stocks finished mostly higher on Wednesday. Chinese shares ended a choppy session little changed as investors reacted to mixed inflation data and signs of policy tightening. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index finished marginally lower at 3,357.74 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged up 0.47 percent to 28,907.52.

Japanese shares ended flat. The benchmark Nikkei rose above the 29,200 level earlier in the day before finishing marginally higher at 29,036.56. The broader Topix index closed 0.11 percent higher at 1,919.74.

Australian markets fell sharply. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 57.10 points, or 0.84 percent, at 6,714.10, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 53.20 points, or 0.76 percent, to 6,947.20.

European shares are trading mostly higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the German DAX is adding 57.92 points or 0.41 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is losing 12.67 points or 0.19 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 39.06 points or 0.38 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.51 percent.