BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - International Trade in Goods data, Factory Orders as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the House Finance Committee are the major focus on Wednesday.
Investors are keen to assess the impact of the meeting between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim in Hanoi.
The GDP report for the fourth quarter is scheduled for tomorrow.
Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading lower.
Early cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately lower.
As of 8.00 am ET, the Dow futures were down 75.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were losing 7.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were declining 22.75 points.
The U.S. major averages finished Wednesday session slightly lower. The Dow slipped 33.97 points or 0.1 percent to 26,057.98, the Nasdaq edged down 5.16 points or 0.1 percent to 7,549.30 and the S&P 500 dipped 2.21 points or 0.1 percent to 2,793.90.
On the economic front, Census Bureau's International Trade in Goods data for December will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit range of $74.5 billion to $73.0 billion.
The Commerce Department's Factory Orders for December will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.6 percent, while it fell 0.6 percent in November 2018.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will give his semi-annual testimony before the House Finance Committee at 10.00 am ET.
National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index for January will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 1.0 percent, while it declined 2.2 percent in the prior month.
In the corporate segment, Best Buy Co., Inc. initiated earnings and revenue guidance for the full-year 2020 and the first quarter of 2020. For fiscal 2020, the company projects adjusted earnings in a range of $5.45 to $5.65 per share on projected enterprise revenues range of $42.9 billion to $43.9 billion and enterprise comparable sales growth of 0.5% to 2.5%. For the first quarter of fiscal 2020, Best Buy expects adjusted earnings in a range of $0.83 to $0.88 per share on projected enterprise revenues range of $9.05 billion to $9.15 billion and enterprise comparable sales growth of flat to 1.0%.
Asian stocks closed mixed on Wednesday. Chinese shares ended higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index rose 12.31 points or 0.42 percent to 2,953.82 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended marginally lower at 28,757.44.
Japanese shares ended higher. The Nikkei average climbed 107.12 points or 0.50 percent to 21,556.51, while the broader Topix index closed 0.20 percent higher at 1,620.42.
Australian markets eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 21.90 points or 0.36 percent to 6,150.30 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 24.60 points or 0.40 percent at 6,233.60.
European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is losing 6.71 points or 0.12 percent, the German DAX is down 42.58 points or 0.37 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is declining 41.16 points or 0.36 percent. The Swiss Market Index is falling 40.31 points or 0.43 percent.
The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.21 percent.
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