Futures Point To Higher Open For Wall Street

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive on Wednesday.

The Beige Book, Import and Export Prices for March, and Business Inflation Expectations for April as well as a slew of Fed Speeches including that of Fed Chairman Jerome Powel might influence the investor sentiments today.

Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading up.

As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 9.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 5.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 53.00 points.

U.S. stocks ended broadly higher on Tuesday. The Dow ended down 68.13 points or 0.2 percent at 33,677.27. The S&P 500 advanced 13.60 points or 0.33 percent to 4,141.59, while the Nasdaq moved up 146.10 points or 1.05 percent to 13,996.10.

On the Economic front, the Import and Export Prices for March will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 0.9 percent, while it was up 1.3 percent in the prior month.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will participate in virtual Economic Club of Washington interview at 12.00 pm ET.

Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations for April will be released at 10.00 am ET. In the prior month, the inflation expectations were up 2.4 percent.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Petroleum Status Report for the week will be released at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were down 3.5 million barrels and Gasoline Inventories were up 4.0 million barrels.

The Beige Book, produced roughly two weeks before the monetary policy meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee, is scheduled at 2.00 pm ET.

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan to participate in a moderated question-and-answer session before virtual Woodlands (Texas) Chamber Economic Outlook Conference at 6.05 pm ET.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in moderated discussion webinar organized by the Rutgers Finance Society at 2.30 pm ET.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic to participate in discussion on “Redesigning Cities to Tackle Systemic Racism” before virtual Georgia Tech School of Architecture Redesigning Cities series at 4.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks finished mixed on Wednesday. Chinese shares advanced. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended up 20.25 points, or 0.60 percent, at 3,416.72, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallied 403.58 points, or 1.42 percent, to 28,900.83.

Japanese shares ended lower. The Nikkei average dropped 130.62 points, or 0.44 percent, to 29,620.99, while the broader Topix index closed 0.33 percent lower at 1,952.18.

Australian markets gained ground. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 46.20 points, or 0.66 percent, to 7,023.10, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 49.60 points, or 0.69 percent, at 7,280.60.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is progressing 31.43 points or 0.51 percent. The German DAX is losing 2.97 points or 0.03 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 26.51 points or 0.38 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 47.66 points or 0.43 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.34 percent.