By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures pointed broadly lower on Wednesday, after new data showed that retail sales in the U.S. grew by more than expected to begin the year.
At 09:20 ET (14:20 GMT), the Dow futures contract dipped by 134 points to 0.39%, S&P 500 futures traded 19 points or 0.48% lower, and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures moved down by 54 points or 0.43%.
The major indexes were mixed on Tuesday in a day of volatile trading following the release of figures showing that inflation remained resilient in January despite a series of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, suggesting more increases are likely in the short-term.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 156 points or 0.46% and the broad-based S&P 500 slipped by 1 point to 0.03%. The Nasdaq Composite bucked the wider trend, rising 68 points or 0.57%.
Traders had more economic figures out of the U.S. to digest before the market open, as well as fresh earnings from major companies.
According to the Commerce Department on Wednesday, seasonally adjusted retail sales in the world's largest economy climbed by 3.0% in January on a monthly basis to $697 billion, rebounding from a decline of 1.1% in December. Economists had estimated that the figure would rise by 1.8%.
In corporate news, Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB), Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC), Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO), and Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) are among the stand-out names in the earnings calendar.
Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB) stock also soared premarket after the house rental company beat fourth-quarter estimates and provided healthy guidance as strong demand for travel underpinned bookings.
Similarly, Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) stock gained before the start of trading after the online travel company produced solid quarterly returns thanks to more travelers looking to spend money on getaways.
Elsewhere, oil prices retreated sharply after a surge in U.S. crude inventories raised concerns over the prospect of weaker fuel demand in the U.S., the largest consumer of crude in the world.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute indicated that U.S. crude inventories rose by around 10.5 million barrels last week, a considerably larger build than the 1.2 million-barrel rise widely expected in a Reuters poll of analysts.
By 09:35 ET, U.S. crude futures fell 0.87% to $78.37 a barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 0.83% to $84.87.
Additionally, gold futures shed 0.94% to $1,847.85/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.49% lower at 1.0682.