Futures Point To Broadly Higher Open For Wall Street

The Fed’s monetary policy announcement, as well as earnings reports, might get special attention on Wednesday.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), C.H. Robinson (CHR), Juniper Networks (JNPR), Mattel (MAT), Starbucks (SBUX), and Visa (V) are also among the companies releasing their quarterly results after the close of today’s trading.

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

Early trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up.

As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were sliding 16.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 2.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 41.75 points.

The U.S. major averages all closed in negative territory on Tuesday. The Nasdaq tumbled 180.14 points or 1.2 percent to 14,660.58, the S&P 500 fell 20.84 points or 0.5 percent to 4,401.46 and the Dow dipped 85.79 points or 0.2 percent to 35,058.52.

On the economic front, the Census Bureau’s International Trade in Goods (Advance) for June will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $88.7 billion, while it was down $88.1 billion in the prior month.

Retail Inventories (Advance) for June will be published at 8.30 am ET. In the prior month, the inventories were down 0.8 percent.

The Commerce Department’s Wholesale Inventories (Advance) for June is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 1.1 percent, while it was up 1.1 percent in the prior month.

State Street Investor Confidence Index for July will be revealed at 10.00 am ET. In the prior month, the Index was at 96.3.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Petroleum Status Report for the week is expected at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were up 2.1 million barrels and the Gasoline Inventories were down 0.1 million barrels.

Survey of Business Uncertainty for July will be issued at 11.00 am ET. In the prior month, the sales growth was up 4.32 percent.

A two-year Floating Rate Note or FRN auction will be held at 11.30 am ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC announcement will be at 2.00 pm ET.
The Fed Chair Press Conference will be at 2.30 pm ET.

Asian stocks finished mixed on Wednesday. Chinese shares ended lower for a fourth consecutive session. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index slid 19.59 points, or 0.58 percent, to settle at 3,361.59 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose as much as 1.54 percent to 25,473.88 after being on the verge of a bear market.

Japanese shares tumbled to end near six-month lows. The Nikkei average fell 388.56 points, or 1.39 percent, to 27,581.66, edging near a 6-1/2-month low hit last week. The broader Topix index ended 0.95 percent lower at 1,919.65.

Australian markets fell notably.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 52.10 points, or 0.70 percent, to 7,379.30 after closing at a record high the previous day. The broader All Ordinaries index ended down 54.40 points, or 0.71 percent, at 7,649.60.

European shares are trading higher. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is progressing 49.37 points or 0.76 percent. The German DAX is adding 36.74 points or 0.23 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 14.58 points or 0.21 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is adding 35.10 points or 0.29 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is up 0.58 percent.

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