Wall Street Might Open In Negative Territory

The fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product or GDP and Fed talks might be getting attention on Wednesday.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower.

Asian shares finished mostly in the negative zone, while European shares are mostly up.

As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were down 120.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 17.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 75.00 points.

The U.S. major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line on Tuesday, however ended the day mixed.

While the Nasdaq climbed 59.05 points or 0.4 percent to 16,035.30 and the S&P 500 edged up 8.65 points or 0.2 percent to 5,078.18, the Dow dipped 96.82 points or 0.3 percent to 38,972.41.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP for the fourth quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 3.3 percent, while it was up 3.3 percent in the prior quarter.

The Retail and Wholesale Inventories (Advance) for January will be issued at 8.30 am ET. In the prior month, the retail inventories were up 0.8 percent, while the consensus for wholesale inventories is for an increase of 0.1 percent. In December, wholesale inventories were up 0.4 percent.

The Survey of Business Uncertainty for February will be revealed at 11.00 am ET. In the prior month, the sales growth was 3.90 percent.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic is to speak on monetary policy and the economy before the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce at noon ET.

Boston Fed President Susan Collins will speak and participate in a fireside chat before an event hosted by the Center for Business, Government, and Society at the Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business at 12.15 pm ET.

New York Fed President John Williams to participate in a hybrid economic briefing organized by the Long Island Association at 12.45 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended on a mixed note Wednesday. Chinese markets tumbled. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index slumped 1.91 percent to 2,957.85. The Hang Seng index fell 1.51 percent to close at 16,536.85.

Japanese shares ended little changed. The Nikkei average finished marginally lower at 39,208.03 on speculation about the BOJ policy shift. The broader Topix index slipped 0.13 percent to 2,674.95.

Australian markets finished marginally lower.

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