Futures Points To Higher Open For Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Initial cues on the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive on Wednesday.

Asian shares finished mostly lower, while European shares are gaining.

Tariff uncertainties continue to keep investors on edge. The European Union said it will impose counter-tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. goods from next month.

On the Asian trading session, the dollar weakened against its major peers, gold was marginally lower while oil prices edged higher on dollar weakness.

As of 8.00 am ET, the Dow futures were up 223.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 41.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were gaining 174.75 points.

The U.S. major averages finished lower on Tuesday. The Dow settled lower by 478.23 points or 1.14 percent, at 41,433.48, after scaling a low of 41,175.37 and a high of 41,868.27 in the session.

The S&P 500 ended down 42.49 points or 0.76 percent, at 5,572.07, while the Nasdaq settled lower by 32.23 points or 0.18 percent, at 17,436.10. The Nasdaq climbed to 17,687.40 in the final hour, rallying from a low of 17,238.24.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index or CPI for February will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.5 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Petroleum Status Report for the week will be released at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were up 3.6 million barrels and the gasoline inventories were down 1.4 million.

The 4-month Treasury bill auction will be held at 11.30 am ET. 10-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The U.S. Treasury Statement for February will be published at 2.00 pm ET. In the prior month, the Treasury deficit was $128.6 billion.

Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday. China's Shanghai Composite index slid 0.23 percent to 3,371.92. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.76 percent to 23,600.31.

Japanese shares ended flat. The Nikkei average finished marginally higher at 36,819.09 while the broader Topix index jumped 0.91 percent to close at 2,694.91.

Australian markets tumbled. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.32 percent to 7,786.20, hitting a new six-month low. The broader All Ordinaries index dropped 1.24 percent to 8,002.60.

European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is adding 113.89 points or 1.43 percent. DAX of Germany is progressing 394.05 points or 1.76 percent. FTSE 100 of England is adding 58.20 points or 0.69 percent. The Swiss Market Index is up 260.08 points or 2.05 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 1.49 percent.