Futures Pointing To Initial Strength On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Wednesday, with stocks likely to move back to the upside in early trading following the pullback seen in the previous session.

A positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from several big-name companies may contribute to early strength on Wall Street.

Shares of Boeing (BA) are seeing significant pre-market strength after the aerospace giant reported an unexpected second quarter profit on better than expected revenues.

Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) is also likely to move to the upside after reporting quarterly results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Microsoft (MSFT), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Mattel (MAT) are also moving higher in pre-market trading after reporting their quarterly results.

On the other hand, shares of Apple (AAPL) may move to the downside after the tech giant reported better than expected quarterly results but warned the negative impact of the semiconductor shortage could worsen this quarter.

Overall trading may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement this afternoon.

Traders are likely to pay close attention to the Fed’s statement for clues about the outlook for the central bank’s asset purchase program.

Stocks moved to the downside during trading on Tuesday, giving back ground after closing higher for five consecutive sessions. With the drop on the day, the major averages pulled back off the record closing highs set on Monday.

The major averages all closed in negative territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed its counter parts by a wide margin. While 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.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.4 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has advanced by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.48 to $72.14 a barrel after falling $0.26 to $71.65 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $1,798.30, down $1.50 compared to the previous session’s close of $1,799.80. On Tuesday, gold inched up $0.60.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 110.14 yen compared to the 109.78 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1797 compared to yesterday’s $1.1817.