Wall Street Likely To Open With Slightly Positive Bias

Slightly higher futures and a firm trend in European markets point to a positive start for U.S. stocks on Wednesday.

Traders are likely to continue to monitor the developments in China with regard to Covid-related restrictions.

On the economic front, the Labor Department’s JOLT (Job Openings and Labor Turnover) survey results will be out at 8:15 AM ET.

Data on third-quarter GDP is due at 8:30 AM ET.

The focus will also be on Jerome Powell’s sppech at a Brookings Institute event at 1.30 PM ET.

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Tuesday after fluctuating over the course of the day’s session. Movements were choppy amid lingering uncertainty about the situation in China following widespread protests over the country’s Covid restrictions.

The Dow ended marginally up at 33,852.33, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq settled lower by 0.2 percent, and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Wednesday despite weak data from China and worries about the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country.

China’s Shanghai Composite index fluctuated before finishing marginally higher at 3,151.34 as hopes on China eventually reopening its economy offset disappointing factory and services sector data.

European stocks are up in positive territory, with investors reacting to eurozone inflation data and looking ahead to Powell’s speech later in the day for clues about Fed’s rate hike moves.

According to flash estimate from Eurostat, eurozone inflation slowed more than expected to 10 percent in November from 10.6 percent in October.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $1.71 or 2.2 percent at $79.91 a barrel.