Wall Street Aims To Open Higher Ahead Of FOMC Minutes

The FOMC minutes, Housing starts and permits reports, as well as Fed Industrial production reports, will be the highlight on Wednesday. Retail majors will report quarterly earnings today.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open higher. Asian shares finished mostly down, while European shares are trading broadly up.

As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were up 10.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 0.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 3.25 points.

The U.S. major averages all ended notably lower on Tuesday. The Dow ended with a loss of 361.24 points or 1.02 percent at 34,946.39. The S&P 500 ended down 51.86 points or 1.16 percent at 4,437.86, and the Nasdaq settled at 13,631.05, recording a loss of 157.28 points or 1.14 percent.

On the economic front, the Housing Starts and Permits for July will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The housing starts consensus is for 1.444 million, while it was up 1.434 million in June. The consensus for permits is 1.464 million, while it was up 1.440 million in the previous month.

The Fed Industrial Production for July will be published at 9.15 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 0.3 percent, while it was down 0.5 percent in the prior month.

Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations for August is scheduled at 10.00 am ET. In the prior month, the inflation expectations were up 2.8 percent.

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 5.9 million barrels and the gasoline inventories were down 2.7 million barrels.

The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC minutes will be revealed at 2.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks retreated on Wednesday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index fell 0.82 percent to 3,150.13 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbled 1.36 percent to 18,329.30.

Japanese shares closed at a more than two-month low. The Nikkei average slumped 1.46 percent to 31,766.82 while the broader Topix index settled 1.29 percent lower at 2,260.84.

Australian markets were under selling pressure. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended down 1.50 percent at 7,195.20. The broader All Ordinaries index closed 1.44 percent lower at 7,411.80.

European shares are trading mostly higher. CAC 40 of France is gaining 11.31 points or 0.15 percent. DAX of Germany is adding 41.11 points or 0.26 percent. The FTSE 100 of England is declining 24.51 points or 0.33 percent. The Swiss Market Index is up 10.47 points or 0.10 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 0.90 percent.

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