Investing.com – Wall Street was set to open higher on Wednesday as investors waited for economic data and earnings results.
The S&P 500 futures rose four points or 0.15% to 2,843.75 as of 6:57 AM ET (11:57 GMT) while Dow futures increased 63 points or 0.24% to 26,264.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up eight points or 0.11% to 6,973.75.
A number of firms are expected to release their financial results on Wednesday and is likely to move market sentiment. Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Baker Hughes A Ge Company LLC (NYSE:BHGE), Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) are among those expected to publish their latest financial figures.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) surged 4.45% in pre-market trading despite reporting less than expected earnings results. Meanwhile, oil firm BP (LON:BP) PLC ADR (NYSE:BP) rallied 1.55% while Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:SMI) rose 3.758% and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) increased 0.15%.
Elsewhere Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) slumped nearly 6.78% after reporting its slowest revenue growth in four quarters on soft demand after the close on Tuesday. Airline firm United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) was down 6.63% after it reported a decline in capacity growth plans while Puma Biotech fell 27.78%.
In economic news, the FHFA House Price Index is set for 9:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT) while the IHS Markit flash U.S. composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) data is released at 9:45 AM ET (14:45 GMT) and existing home sales at 10:00 AM ET (15:00 GMT).
In Europe stocks were down. Germany’s DAX fell four points or 0.03% while in France the CAC 40 decreased six points or 0.11% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 32 points or 0.42%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost one and a half points or 0.05% while Spain’s IBEX 35 slumped seven points or 0.07%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.96% to $1,349.50 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 0.34% to $64.69 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.51% to 89.42.