Investing.com - U.S. stock markets pointed to a higher open on Wednesday, as investors eyed a fresh batch of corporate earnings reports, while awaiting the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting later in the day.
The blue-chip Dow futures rose 40 points, or 0.22%, by 10:54GMT, or 6:54AM ET, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 4 points, or 0.18%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 32 points, or 0.66%.
Among active pre-market movers, Apple shares (NASDAQ:AAPL) jumped almost 7% ahead of the bell after the tech giant said it sold more iPhones than Wall Street expected in the third quarter and estimated its revenue in the current period would top many analysts' targets.
Analog Devices Inc (NASDAQ:ADI) rallied 10% after announcing that late Tuesday that it would buy fellow chipmaker Linear Technology (NASDAQ:LLTC) for about $14.8 billion.
On the downside, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) plunged nearly 12% after the social media network reported its slowest revenue growth since going public in 2013 and set a disappointing forecast for the current period.
U.S.-listed shares of German banking giant Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) slumped more than 4% after revenues fell sharply in the second quarter as the low interest rate environment and volatile markets weighed on the business.
The earnings season continues full-strength on Wednesday, with Boeing (NYSE:BA), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) due to report ahead of the opening bell. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) and Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ:WFM) are among those due to report after the market’s close.
Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to the outcome of the Fed’s policy meeting later in the day for fresh guidance on the future path of U.S. interest rates.
While the U.S. central bank is not expected to take action on interest rates, investors will scrutinize wording in its policy statement for fresh hints on the timing of interest rate hikes over the next several months.
A recent string of better than expected U.S. data reignited speculation that the Fed will raise interest rates before the end of the year. Fed funds futures are currently pricing in a 20% chance of a rate hike by September. December odds were at 52%, compared with less than 10% at the start of this month.
Besides the release of the Fed statement at 18:00GMT, or 2:00PM ET, there are durable goods orders at 12:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET, and pending home sales at 14:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.
In Europe, stock markets traded higher on Wednesday, following the release of better-than-expected U.K. economic data and ahead of the latest monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve.
Earlier, Asian equities closed mixed, with Japan's Nikkei 225 rising sharply amid multiple reports from Japanese media about how big the country's soon-to-be announced fiscal stimulus package would be.
The dollar rose more than 1.5% to hit highs of 106.54 against the yen and was last at 105.50, up 0.8% on the day (USD/JPY).
Elsewhere, oil prices struggled near three-month lows on Wednesday, as market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
U.S. crude was down 18 cents, or 0.42%, to $42.74 a barrel, while Brent shed 35 cents, or 0.77%, to $44.88.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 14:30GMT, or 10:30AM ET, Wednesday amid expectations for a drop of 2.3 million barrels.