Wall Street Set To Start Low

A slew of Fed speeches and FOMC minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting might be the highlights on Wednesday.

Asian shares finished broadly up, while European shares are trading mostly down.
The U.S. Futures Index point to lower open for Wall Street.

Fear of an increase in COVID-19 infection is buoyant in several countries, while half of U.S. adults received the first dose of vaccine.

As of 8.05 am ET, the Dow futures were down 1.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were at 0.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 3.25 points.

The U.S. major indices finished lower on Tuesday. The Dow slipped 96.95 points or 0.3 percent to 33,430.24, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed just below the unchanged line. The Nasdaq edged down 7.21 points or 0.1 percent to 13,698.38 and the S&P 500 dipped 3.97 points or 0.1 percent to 4,073.94.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department’s International Trade in Goods and Services for February will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is a decline of $70.4 billion while it was down $68.2 billion in January.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Petroleum Status Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were down 0.9 million barrels and the Gasoline Inventories were down 1.7 million barrels.

The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled at 2.00 pm ET.

The Fed Consumer Credit for February will be released at 3.00 pm ET. The consensus is for $5.0 billion, while in January, the deficit was $1.3 billion.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will speak on current economic conditions and monetary policy before virtual Prairie State College Foundation Economic Forecast Breakfast, via Zoom at 9.00 am ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan to participate in a virtual moderated question-and-answer session before the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee at 11.00 am ET.

Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin will speak on the monetary policy outlook, labor market scarring, and other topics before a virtual Global Interdependence Center Executive Briefing at 12.00 pm ET.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly to discuss the economy, climate change, and economic inequality during a fireside chat webinar at 1.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Wednesday. Chinese and Hong Kong markets bucked the regional trend to end lower. China’s Shanghai Composite index ended on a flat note at 3,479.63, reversing early losses.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended down 263.94 points, or 0.91 percent, at 28,674.80.

Japanese shares ended slightly higher. The Nikkei average edged up 34.16 points, or 0.12 percent, to 29,730.79, while the broader Topix index closed 0.67 percent higher at 1,967.43.

Australian markets advanced. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 42.10 points, or 0.61 percent, to 6,928, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 43.50 points, or 0.61 percent, at 7,177.40.

European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is declining 25.81 points or 0.43 percent. The German DAX is gaining 8.23 points or 0.06 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is down 4.88 points or 0.07 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is losing 16.50 points or 0.15 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.33 percent.

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