Wall Street Might Open Slightly Up

Powell’s second day of testimony on Capitol Hill might be the focus on Wednesday.

Private Sector Employment and Job Openings as well as the Fed’s Beige Book will also get attention today.
Asian shares were mostly down, while European shares are trading broadly down.
Early cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open slightly up.

As of 7.10 am ET, the Dow futures were up 20.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 3.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 18.50 points.

The U.S. major averages posted steep losses on Tuesday. The Dow plunged 574.98 points or 1.7 percent at 32,856.46, the Nasdaq tumbled 145.40 points or 1.3 percent to 11,530.33 and the S&P 500 dove 62.05 points or 1.5 percent to 3,986.37.

On the economic front, ADP Employment Report for February will be published at 8.15 am ET. The consensus is 200,000, while it was up 106,000 in the prior month.

The Commerce Department’s International Trade in Goods and Services for January will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $68.8 billion, while the deficit was at $67.4 billion in the prior month.

The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey or JOLTS for January will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is up 10.6 million, while it was up 11.012 million in December 2022.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Petroleum Status Report for the week is expected at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were up 1.2 million barrels, while Gasoline Inventories were down 0.9 million barrels.

Ten-year Treasury Note Auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

The Beige Book, published roughly two weeks before the monetary policy meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled at 2.00 pm ET.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver semiannual monetary policy testimony before the House Financial Services Committee at 10.00 am ET.

Asian stocks tumbled on Wednesday. China’s Shanghai Composite index fluctuated before finishing marginally lower. Hong Kong’s tech-heavy Hang Seng index tumbled 2.35 percent to close at 20,051.25.

Japanese shares rose for a fourth straight session. The Nikkei average rose 0.48 percent to 28,444.19 while the broader Topix index ended 0.30 percent higher at 2,051.21.

Australian markets ended lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 56.90 points, or 0.77 percent, to 7,307.80 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.78 percent lower at 7,503.90.

European shares are trading mostly down. CAC 40 of France is down 5.00 points or 0.07 percent. DAX of Germany is adding 45.29 points or 0.29 percent. FTSE 100 of England is declining 4.84 points or 0.06 percent. The Swiss Market Index is down 29.31 points or 0.26 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.15 percent.

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