US pre-open: Futures point to positive session as Q1 earnings season continues
Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Wednesday, with more corporate earnings and comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in focus prior to the open.
As of 1225 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.17%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.29% and 0.50% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed just 19.80 points higher on Tuesday in what was an otherwise losing session for major indices.
SpreadEx's Connor Campbell said: "Recovering enough by the end of last night to close above 34,000, the Dow Jones could find itself testing its all-time highs this afternoon. The futures have the Dow rising 0.3% to 34,230 – if it can scrounge together a few more points once the bell actually rings, it will match the intraday peak set in mid-April."
Comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that an interest rate hike was neither something she was "predicting or recommending" were lending some support to stocks after a previous statement that "it may be that interest rates have to rise somewhat" in order to stop the US' post-covid economy from overheating had panicked investors.
Earnings from Activision Blizzard and Lyft were in focus ahead of the bell on Wednesday, with the video games developer beating quarterly earnings expectations, while the ride-hailing firm surged as much as 6% in pre-market trading thanks to some better-than-expected earnings.
Still to come, General Motors, Hilton Worldwide, Allstate and Etsy will all report earnings on Wednesday.
On the macro front, weekly mortgage applications fell 0.9% in the seven days ended 30 April, according to the Mortgage Bankers' Association, as the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances moved ever so slightly higher to 3.18% from 3.17%.
Still to come, ADP Employment figures will be posted at 1315 BST, while the ISM's non-manufacturing PMI for April will follow at 1500 BST.
Federal Reserve presidents Charles Evans, Eric Rosengren and Loretta Mester will all deliver comments throughout the course of the day.