Investing.com - U.S. stock markets pointed to strong gains at the open on Wednesday, with the Dow futures climbing more than 100 points, as appetite for riskier assets improved ahead of congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The blue-chip Dow futures were up 130 points, or 0.82%, by 12:15GMT, or 7:15AM ET, the S&P 500 futures rose 20 points, or 1.07%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 56 points, or 1.42%.
U.S. stocks ended a volatile session slightly lower on Tuesday, as a late-day rally led by materials and healthcare shares offset another big drop in oil prices.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to deliver her semi-annual monetary policy testimony in Washington later Wednesday, in what will be her first major appearance of the year and since the Fed's controversial rate hike last December.
Her comments will be released at 13:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET, while her testimony before the House Financial Services Committee is due to start at 15:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.
The Fed chief is expected to defend the U.S. central bank's first rate hike in a decade last December and likely insist that further rises this year remain on track, albeit at a slower pace.
Oil prices pushed higher on Wednesday, partly recovering from an 8% drop in the previous session on concerns over demand and weak equities.
U.S. crude was up 54 cents, or 1.95%, at $28.48 a barrel in early North America trade, while Brent rose 51 cents, or 1.68%, to $30.83.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 15:30GMT, or 10:30AM ET, amid expectations for a gain of 3.6 million barrels.
Among active pre-market movers, U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank (N:DB) surged 10% on news the German bank is considering buying back billions of euros of its own bonds.
SolarCity Corporation (O:SCTY) shares sank 27% in premarket action after the solar power company late Tuesday said it will continue to fall short of its installation goals.
Walt Disney Company (N:DIS) lost 3.5% ahead of the bell on concerns about its cable-sports network.
In earnings news, Time Warner Inc (N:TWX), Humana (N:HUM), Owens Corning Inc (N:OC) and Carlyle Group (O:CG) are due to report quarterly results ahead of the opening bell. After the market closes, Twitter (N:TWTR), Tesla Motors (O:TSLA), Whole Foods Market Inc (O:WFM) and Cisco Systems (O:CSCO) are on the earnings docket.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, European stock markets rallied following a seven-session selloff on Wednesday, as investors picked up beaten down bank stocks. Germany’s DAX 30 surged 2.5%, France’s CAC 40 jumped 2.6%, while London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.3%.
Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei, which tumbled 5.4% Tuesday, suffered another bruising session, falling 2.3% to close at the lowest since October 2014, with a stronger yen continuing to take a toll on sentiment.