Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Following the downward move seen over the past few sessions, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by less than a tenth of a percent.

While crude oil prices and treasury yields are giving back ground after a recent surge, traders may be reluctant to get back into the markets amid lingering concerns about the conflict in the Middle East.

Iran launched missile and drone attacks towards U.S.-linked sites in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait earlier today after the U.S. launched a wave of strikes against Iranian military targets on Tuesday.

The attacks by Iran came in defiance of a warning from U.S. Donald President Trump that any retaliation would see Iran "hit much harder" and that the U.S. is still holding out on "the biggest attack of them all."

Despite the renewed exchange of attacks, U.S. crude oil futures are sliding by 0.8 percent after soaring by more than 8 percent over the two previous sessions.

Treasury yields are giving back ground along with crude oil prices, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note pulling back off its highest closing level in almost three years.

The pullbacks in crude oil prices and treasury yields may keep any selling pressure subdued, although traders may stick to sidelines ahead of the release of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday.

With the more closely watched government report looming, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of August.

ADP said private sector employment rose by 38,000 jobs in August after climbing by an upwardly revised 46,000 jobs in July.

Economists had expected private sector employment to grow by 48,000 jobs compared to the addition of 44,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

After moving moderately lower over the two previous sessions, stocks showed a more significant move to the downside during trading on Tuesday. The major averages all moved notably lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way.

The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq slumped 271.11 points or 1 percent to 26,099.77, the Dow slid 419.02 points or 0.8 percent to 52,766.88 and the S&P 500 fell 54.67 points or 0.7 percent to 7,631.47.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index plunged by 2.9 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.4 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.60 to $89.62 a barrel after soaring $4.46 to $90.22 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $4,382.10, down $14.30 compared to the previous session's close of $4,396.40. On Tuesday, gold dove $85.10.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.66 yen compared to the 160.17 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1577 compared to yesterday's $1.1592.