Investing.com - U.S. stock markets pointed to strong gains at the open on Wednesday, as investors look towards the Federal Reserve minutes for its January meeting and oil rebounded.
The blue-chip Dow futures climbed 103 points, or 0.64%, by 12:20GMT, or 7:20AM ET, the S&P 500 futures rose 14 points, or 0.71%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 34 points, or 0.82%.
Among active pre-market movers, Fossil Group (O:FOSL) shares jumped 14% ahead of the bell after the watch and jewelry maker late Tuesday reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
Priceline (O:PCLN) rallied 10% after the company beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations.
Shares of Kinder Morgan (N:KMI) surged 8.4% after Warren Buffett revealed a 26 million share stake in the natural gas and refined petroleum products firm.
On the downside, shares of health IT firm Cerner Corporation (O:CERN) plunged 13.6% after the company reported disappointing quarterly earnings after Tuesday’s closing bell.
Investors will be focusing on minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting due on Wednesday at 19:00GMT, or 2:00PM ET, for fresh indications on whether the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates at all this year.
The Fed left interest rates unchanged following its meeting on January 27 and said it was "closely monitoring" global economic and financial developments.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week that financial conditions have become less supportive to growth as foreign developments pose risks to the economic outlook, but also maintained that moderate growth at home would justify "gradual adjustments" to the Fed's monetary policy stance.
Aside from the minutes, the U.S. will release data on producer prices, housing starts and building permits at 13:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET, followed by a report on industrial production at 14:15GMT, or 9:15AM ET.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose 2% in volatile trade as OPEC members travel to Tehran in an attempt to convince Iran to join an oil production freeze deal.
Qatar’s Energy Minister and current OPEC President Mohammed al-Sada, along with Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino and Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, traveled to Tehran for talks with their Iranian counterpart Bijan Zanganeh in a bid to reach a deal to restrain output and prop up sagging prices.
Top oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday agreed to freeze oil production at January levels, provided other oil exporters joined in, but stopped short of agreeing cuts in oil output.
Iran signaled that it would take a tough line in talks among oil producers on a production freeze, saying it would continue increasing its output until it reached levels seen before international sanctions were imposed.
Elsewhere, European stocks moved higher Wednesday, with the region’s blue-chip benchmark guided by gains within the embattled commodities and banking sectors.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.1%, while markets in Japan and Australia closed down after a choppy trading session, despite a positive finish in Wall Street overnight.