Wall Street Targets To Open In Positive Zone

(RTTNews) - Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open positive on Wednesday. The Jobless Claims and Factory Orders will be revealed on Thursday.

Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are trading broadly down.

In the Asian trading session, the dollar sank. Gold broke through $5250 for the first time as U.S.-Iran tensions escalated. Oil prices were steady.

Early trading activity may be somewhat subdued on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later in the afternoon. As of 7.00 am ET, the Dow futures were up 22.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 23.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were 239.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished higher on Tuesday. The Nasdaq jumped 215.74 points or 0.9 percent to 23,817.10, and the S&P 500 climbed 28.37 points or 0.4 percent to a record closing high of 6,978.60.

The Dow ended the day off its worst levels of the session but still closed 408.99 points or 0.8 percent at 49,003.41.

On the economic front, the International Trade in Goods (Advance) and Retail Inventories (Advance) are expected at 8.30 am ET.

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 up 3.6 million barrels, while gasoline inventories increased 6.0 million barrels in the prior week.

Two-year Treasury Floating Rate Note auction will be held at 11.30 am ET.

The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC's policy statement announcement will be at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for no change, while it was down 25 base points. The consensus for federal fund rate is in a range of 3.5 to 3.75 percent.

The Fed Chair Press Conference to explain FOMC's lates quarterly economic projection is scheduled at 2.30 pm ET.

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday. China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.27 percent to 4,151.24. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 2.58 percent to 27,826.91.

Japanese markets ended little changed. The Nikkei average finished marginally higher at 53,358.71 while the broader Topix index fell 0.79 percent to 3,535.49.

Australian markets ended on a subdued note. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finished marginally lower at 8,933.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.19 percent lower at 9,250.60.

European shares are trading mostly lower. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is declining 81.06 points or 0.99 percent. The German DAX is declining 22.81 points or 0.09 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is gaining 22.35 points or 0.10 percent.

The Swiss Market Index is falling 166.07 points or 1.26 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is down 0.53 points or 0.016 percent.