Early Cues Point To Modestly Higher Open For Wall Street

Earnings reports as well as the Institute for Supply Management’s report on manufacturing activity in the month of February will be the major focus on Wednesday.

Early trends on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open modestly higher.

Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are trading positive.

As of 7.10 am ET, the Dow futures were up 50.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 8.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 36.75 points.

Major U.S. averages finished lower on Tuesday. The Dow slid 232.39 points or 0.7 percent to 32,656.70, ending the session at its lowest closing level in well over three months. The S&P 500 fell 12.09 points or 0.3 percent to 3,970.15, while the Nasdaq edged down 11.44 points or 0.1 percent to 11,455.54.

On the economic front, PMI Manufacturing Final for February will be released at 9.45 am ET. The consensus is 47.8, while it was up 47.8 in the previous month.

ISM Manufacturing Index for February will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 48.0, while it was up 47.4 in the previous month.

The Commerce Department’s Construction Spending for January is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 0.2 percent, while it was down 0.4 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Petroleum Status Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were up 7.6 million barrels and the gasoline inventories were down 1.9 million barrels.

The Survey of Business Uncertainty for February is expected at 11.00 am ET. In January, the sales growth was up 4.30 percent.

Asian stock rose broadly on Wednesday. Chinese shares rose sharply. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index climbed 1 percent to 3,312.35 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 4.21 percent to 20,619.71.

Japanese shares ended slightly higher. The Nikkei average edged up 0.26 percent to 27,516.53. The broader Topix index closed 0.23 percent higher at 1,997.81.

European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is gaining 56.10 points or 0.77 percent. DAX of Germany is progressing 103.72 points or 0.68 percent. FTSE 100 of England is up 70.94 points or 0.90 percent. The Swiss Market Index is adding 33.54 points or 0.30 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.84 percent.

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