Wall Street Set To Start Positive

(RTTNews) - Initial signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately up on Wednesday. Amid rising uncertainty in the Middle East conflict, the oil prices fell sharply, the dollar softened, while gold is trending down below $5000.

Investors are looking ahead for the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision later today. Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks on inflation, employment and growth will be of much interest to investors. Asian shares finished higher, while European shares are trading mostly up.

As of 7.35 am ET, the Dow futures were adding 141.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 18.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were gaining 104.50 points.

The U.S. major averages climbed. The Nasdaq gained 105.35 points or 0.5 percent to 22,479.53, the S&P 500 rose 16.71 points or 0.3 percent to 6,716.09 and the Dow inched up 46.85 points or 0.1 percent to 46,993.26.

On the economic front, the PPI-Final demand for February will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.3 percent, while it was up 0.5 percent in the prior month.

The Factory Orders for January will be released at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.1 percent, while it was down 0.7 percent in the previous month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Petroleum Status Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were at 3.8 million barrels, while gasoline inventories were down 3.7 million barrels.

The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC announcement is scheduled at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is 0 bp change, while it was at 0 bp in the prior period.

The Fed Chair Press Conference will be held at 2.30 pm ET.

The Treasury International Capital data for January will be released at 4.00 pm ET. The net long-term securities transactions were $28.0 billion.

Asian stocks rose broadly on Wednesday. China's Shanghai Composite index edged up by 0.32 percent to 4,062.98 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 0.61 percent higher at 26,025.42.

Japanese markets rallied. The Nikkei average climbed 2.87 percent to 55,239.40 while the broader Topix index settled 2.49 percent higher at 3,717.41.

Australian markets eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.31 percent to 8,640.60 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed up 0.32 percent at 8,847.20.