Investing.com - U.S. stock markets pointed to a lower open on Wednesday morning, as investors braced for formal Brexit procedures to be triggered by the U.K. government later in the day.
Market players also awaited comments from a number of Federal Reserve policymakers later in the session for more clues on the timing of the next U.S. rate hike.
The blue-chip Dow futures shed 41 points, or around 0.2%, by 6:45AM ET (10:45GMT), the S&P 500 futures dipped 5 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures declined 4 points.
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, with the Dow snapping an eight-day losing streak as financial stocks jumped on the back of strong consumer confidence data.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty later on Wednesday, formally beginning the process of exiting the European Union.
May will send a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, formally announcing Britain's withdrawal from the bloc. The correspondence will start the clock ticking on a two-year countdown to Brexit and allow negotiations to start between London and Brussels in the coming weeks.
The British PM is expected to address the House of Commons at 7:30AM ET (11:30GMT).
Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to speeches by a host of Fed officials, whose comments will be scrutinized for clues on the future path of interest rate hikes.
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and San Francisco Fed President John Williams are all scheduled to speak throughout the day.
Speaking on Tuesday, Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said that two more rate hikes this year seemed "about right."
The Fed raised interest rates earlier this month and stuck to its outlook for two more hikes this year.
Fed fund futures priced in around a 50% chance of a rate hike in June, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool. Odds of a September increase was seen at about 70%.
On the data front, the U.S. is to release pending home sales for February at 10AM ET (14:00GMT). At 10:30AM ET (14:30GMT), the Energy Department is scheduled to release its official weekly oil supply report.
Elsewhere, European stock markets were mixed in choppy mid-morning trade, with Germany's DAX up 0.3%, while London's FTSE 100 shed 0.2%.
Earlier, in Asia, markets ended mixed, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing down around 0.4%, while Japan's Nikkei inched up abput 0.1%.