BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - FOMC minutes and a slew of Fed speeches are the important announcements on Wednesday. Initial cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately higher.
Asian shares finished closed mostly higher, while European shares are trading lower. As of 8.05 am ET, the Dow futures were up 194.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 23.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 82.25 points.
Major U.S. indices finished mostly lower on Tuesday. The Dow, which had surged to 28,354.48, ended the day with a loss of 375.88 points or 1.34% at 27,772.76. The Nasdaq plunged 177.88 points or 1.57% to settle at 11,154.60, while the S&P 500 slumped 47.66 points or 1.4% to 3,360.97.
On the economic front, the Energy Information Administration or EIA's Petroleum Status Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were down 2.0 million barrels, while Gasoline Inventories were up 0.7 million barrels.
Ten-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.
The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC minutes will be published at 2.00 pm ET. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari to give remarks on racism and the economy at 2.15 pm ET.
New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams to serve as moderator for a discussion with Henry Kissinger at the Economic Club of New York at 3.00 pm ET. The Fed Consumer Credit report for August will be released at 3.00 pm ET. The consensus is for $14.6 billion, while it was up $12.2 billion in July.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will speak on 'Racism and the Economy' together with Fed's Neel Kashkari and Eric Rosengren at a virtual event series at 1.00 pm ET.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashari to speak on 'Racism and the Economy' together with Fed's Raphael Bostic and Eric Rosengren at a virtual event series at 2.15 pm ET.
Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday. Markets in China were closed for the National Day holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 262.21 points, or 1.09 percent, to 24,242.86.
Japanese shares ended on a flat note. The Nikkei average finished marginally lower at 23,422.82, while the broader Topix index closed with a positive bias at 1,646.47.
Australian markets rallied on Wednesday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 74.30 points, or 1.25 percent, to 6,036.40, pushing the index to its highest level since September 3. The broader All Ordinaries index ended up 75.40 points, or 1.22 percent, at 6,239.60.
European shares are trading lower. DAX of Germany is down 58.94 points or 0.46 percent. FTSE 100 of England is declining 3.02 points or 0.04 percent. Swiss Market Index is sliding 37.85 points or 0.37 percent.
Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.32 percent.
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