Futures Pointing To Modestly Higher Open On Wall Street

After ending the previous session mostly higher, stocks may see further upside in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 2.75 points.

Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to better than expected earnings from several big-name financial companies.

Shares of Goldman Sachs (GS) are moving notably higher in pre-market trading after the financial giant reported first quarter results that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Banking giant Wells Fargo (WFC) may also move to the upside after reporting better than expected first quarter results.

On the other hand, shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) are seeing some pre-market weakness even though the financial giant reported first quarter results that exceeded expectations.

The release of the quarterly results comes as earnings season gets underway, with Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and PepsiCo (PEP) among the companies due to report their results before the start of trading on Thursday.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing another notable increase by import prices in the month of March.

The report said import prices surged up by 1.2 percent in March after jumping by 1.3 percent in February. Economists had expected import prices to climb by 1.0 percent.

The Labor Department noted import prices spiked by 4.1 percent from December to March, reflecting the largest three-month increase since May of 2011.

The report also said export prices soared by 2.1 percent in March after shooting up by 1.6 percent in February. Export prices were expected to increase by 1.0 percent.

U.S. stocks ended broadly higher on Tuesday, shrugging off some adverse news on the vaccine front amid expectations of strong quarterly earnings from big name companies. Data showing an uptick inflation weighed a bit, although it did not trigger any big selling in the market.

Technology stocks gained in strength and lifted the Nasdaq Composite Index up by over 1 percent. The S&P 500 set a new record closing high, while the Dow closed on a negative note.

The Dow ended down 68.13 points or 0.2 percent at 33,677.27. The S&P 500 advanced 13.60 points or 0.33 percent to 4,141.59, while the Nasdaq surged up 146.10 points or 1.1 percent to 13,996.10.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Wednesday, although Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and fell by 0.4 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.6 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.4 percent.

Most European stocks have also moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.3 percent, while the German DAX Index has bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.82 to $61 a barrel after rising $0.48 to $60.18 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $1,746.20, down $1.40 compared to the previous session’s close of $1,747.60. On Tuesday, gold advanced $14.90.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 108.94 yen compared to the 109.06 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1963 compared to yesterday’s $1.1948.