Wall Street Seen Opening Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - Lower index futures and worries about geopolitical tensions point to a weak opening for U.S. stocks Wednesday morning.

The Dow futures were down 0.11 percent, the S&P futures slid 0.12 percent, and the Nasdaq futures dropped by about 0.3 percent, after recording some gains earlier.

Amid rising geopolitical tensions, investors rushed to pick up the safe-haven yellow metal. Gold futures rose to $4,866.40 an ounce, gaining more than 2 percent.

Investors will be reacting to some corporate earnings updates and data on pending home sales and construction spending.

In earnings news, The Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV) released reported that its fourth-quarter bottom line came in at $2.496 billion, or $11.06 per share, compared with $2.082 billion, or $8.96 per share, last year.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said that its fourth-quarter bottom line came in at $5.11 billion, or $2.10 per share, compared with $3.43 billion, or $1.41 per share, last year.

The major averages closed sharply lower on Tuesday. The Dow slumped 870.74 points or 1.8 percent to 48,488.59, the Nasdaq plunged 561.07 points or 2.4 percent to 22,954.32 and the S&P 500 tumbled 143.15 points or 2.1 percent to 6,796.86.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid renewed concerns about a trade war between the U.S. and Europe over President Donald Trump's efforts to take control of Greenland.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended weak as risk aversion gripped financial markets on the back of rising bond yields and U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed push to acquire Greenland.

The major European markets showed weakness with investors continuing to stay reluctant to pick up stocks due to trade war jitters.