By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen edging higher at the open Wednesday, stabilizing after the previous session’s strong gains as concerns over the Omicron Covid variant still weigh as the year-end draws near.
At 7 AM ET (1200 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 75 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 5 points, or 0.1%, higher and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 5 points, or 0.1%.
The major indices rallied Tuesday, breaking a three-day losing streak, with the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining over 500 points, or 1.6%, the broad-based S&P 500 rising 1.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbing 2.4%.
The swift emergence of Omicron as the dominant coronavirus variant in the U.S. has alarmed investors. But as European nations reinstate lockdowns, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he did not intend to lock down the U.S., instead announced new actions that increased booster availability and tightened travel rules.
Investors will be looking at data later in the session for a gauge of the strength of the U.S. economic recovery and the wellbeing of the U.S. consumer, a vital component in continuing the rally.
A reading of third-quarter U.S. GDP growth, at 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT) is likely to show a 2.1% rise at an annualized pace, a small improvement from the first estimate of 2% given in October. It had grown by 6.5% in the second quarter.
Consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board, is likely to have improved to 110.8 in December from November’s 109.5, at 10:00 AM ET.
Turning to the corporate sector, Kellogg (NYSE:K) is likely to be in the spotlight Wednesday after the cereal-maker announced the end of a prolonged strike, with representatives of the employees ratifying an agreement that translates into higher wages and better benefits for them.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) could also be in focus after U.S auto safety regulators said they have opened a formal safety investigation into 580,000 of the electric-car maker’s vehicles sold since 2017 over the decision to allow games to be played on the front center touchscreen.
CarMax (NYSE:KMX) will reveal its third-quarter numbers Wednesday, with the used car retailer expected to report revenue of $7.28 billion and profit per share of $1.47.
Oil prices edged higher Wednesday, helped by the American Petroleum Institute reporting crude stockpiles fell by 3.67 million barrels last week, a larger draw than the 2.63-million-barrel drop expected and much larger than last week’s 815,000-barrel fall. If confirmed by government data later Wednesday, it would be a fourth weekly draw.
By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.4% higher at $71.42 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.2% to $74.12.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,790.85/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.1303.