Wall Street Sees Red

Initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower on Wednesday.

Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading mostly lower.

As of 7.30 am ET, the Dow futures were down 253.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 41.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 103.50 points.

The U.S. major averages eventually ended Tuesday modestly lower. The Dow slipped 22.96 points or 0.1 percent to 30,937.04, the Nasdaq edged down 9.93 points or 0.1 percent to 13,626.07 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.74 points or 0.2 percent to 3,849.62.

On the economic front, Durable Goods Orders for December will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 1 percent, while it was up 0.9 percent in the previous month.

State Street Investor Confidence Index for January will be released at 10.00 am ET. In the prior month, the Index was at 104.1.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Petroleum Status Report for the week will be revealed at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were up 4.4 million barrels and Gasoline Inventories were down 0.3 million barrels.

Report of Survey of Business Uncertainty will be published at 11.00 am ET. In the prior month, the Sales Growth was 5.15 percent and Employment Growth was 5.38 percent.

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

The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC’s Federal Funds Rate announcement is scheduled at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for 0-0.25 percent.

The Fed Chair Press Conference will be held at 2.30 pm ET.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday. Chinese shares edged up slightly. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index inched up 3.91 points, or 0.11 percent, to 3,573.34, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended down 93.73 points, or 0.32 percent, at 29,297.53.

China’s industrial profits grew 20.1 percent year-on-year in December, the eighth consecutive month of growth.

Japanese shares rose on the day. The Nikkei average edged up 89.03 points, or 0.31 percent, to 28,635.21, while the broader Topix index closed 0.65 percent higher at 1,860.07.

Australian markets fell from an 11-month high. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 44.10 points, or 0.65 percent, to 6,780.60, with miners and energy companies pacing the declines. The broader All Ordinaries index ended down 51.20 points, or 0.72 percent, at 7,060.20.

European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the German DAX is losing 254.65 points or 1.83 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is down 70.95 points or 1.06 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is losing 71.06 points or 0.65 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 1.58 percent.

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