US pre-open: Futures slightly higher as major indices on track for worst year since 2008
Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Wednesday as the stock market remains firmly on track for its worst year since 2008.
As of 1100 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.22%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.16% and 0.06% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 37.63 points higher on Tuesday as 2022's final holiday-shortened week got off to a mixed start for major indices.
Oil prices were in focus early on Wednesday after Russia banned oil sales to countries and companies that comply with a price cap agreed by Western nations earlier in December. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 0.33% at $79.27 per barrel and Brent Crude futures were 0.36% weaker at $84.03 a barrel.
AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "US and European futures are trading in a narrow range while trading volume continues to remain on the low side. Yesterday, we did see the US stock indices recording small gains, but the percentage gains in the US stock indices were still on the low side and hardly exciting enough to attract new capital. Investors are enthusiastic about China re-opening its economy. However, there are plenty of reports which suggest that covid cases are on the rise in China, which really threatens the supply chain."
On the macro front, weekly mortgage applications data will be published at 1200 GMT, while pending home sales and the Richmond Fed's December manufacturing index will follow at 1500 GMT.
In the corporate space, Tesla shares were down more than 2% in pre-market trading after heavy losses in the previous session after the Wall Street Journal revealed the electric carmaker will continue a weeklong production halt at its Shanghai facility amid a fresh onslaught of Covid-19 cases.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com