Wall Street Aims To Open Broadly Up

(RTTNews) - Investors might be focusing on geopolitical crisis in the Middle East on Wednesday. Heavy strikes from the United States and Israel are continuing while Tehran intensified pressure.

As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, three cargo ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and the source of attack is unknown. There were reports that Iran started laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, while interceptions across the neighbouring countries are continuing.

In the corporate sector, Oracle Corp. is surgring more than 15 points or 10 percent in the pre-market at $165.00 as the third quarter results beat expectations and raised its outlook for the full year 2027.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up.

In the Asian trading session, oil prices stabilized on easing supply concerns. Brent and WTI contracts traded higher. Gold held steady below $5,200 an ounce.

As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were losing 11.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 1.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were adding 2.75 points.

The U.S. major averages ended Tuesday narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq inched up 1.16 points to 22,697.10, the Dow edged down 34.29 points or 0.1 percent to 47,706.51 and the S&P 500 dipped 14.51 points or 0.2 percent to 6,781.48.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index for February will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is up 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.2 percent in the prior month.

The U.S. Treasury Statement is scheduled at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for deficit of $308 billion, while the deficit in the prior month was $94.6 billion.

Ten-year Treasury Note Auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

Fed Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will speak on 'Supervision and Regulation' at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit at 8.30 am ET.

Asian stocks rose on Wednesday. China's Shanghai Composite index edged up by 0.25 percent to 4,133.43. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.24 percent to 25,898.76.

Japanese markets rallied. The Nikkei average rose 1.43 percent to 55,025.37 while the broader Topix index settled 0.94 percent higher at 3,698.85.

Australian markets advanced. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.59 percent to 8,743.50 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 0.59 percent at 8,976.80.