U.S. equity futures were trading higher on Wednesday ahead of an anticipated speech by the Federal Reserve chief that may give clues about future interest rate hikes.
The major futures indexes suggest a gain of 0.2% when the opening bell rings on Wall Street.
Oil prices traded higher on Wednesday as U.S. crude inventories were seen falling, but concerns that OPEC+ would leave output policy unchanged at its upcoming meeting limited gains.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded around $79.00 per barrel.
Brent crude futures traded around $83.00 per barrel.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at the Brookings Institution about the outlook for the U.S. economy and the labor market.
Traders will pay close attention to what Powell says as it could give clues about what the next move in interest rates could look like.
Several economic data points that could play into the Fed’s decision making will be released including: the second estimate of 3Q GDP, the ADP private payrolls report, job openings and labor turnover survey, pending home sales and the Fed’s Beige Book.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 2.2% and China’s Shanghai Composite edged up less than 0.1%.
Due to a more reflective approach to the recent zero-COVID measures, Chinese stocks have taken substantial leaps and bounds this week.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 3,957.63, its third straight drop. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.6% to 10,983.78, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added fractionally to 33,852.53.
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