Wall Street Targets To Open Moderately Up

(RTTNews) - Initial signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open moderately up on Wednesday.

In the Asian trading session, oil prices held steady. Brent crude futures were up 0.3 percent at $89.14 a barrel.

Gold prices were up more than 1 percent on Wednesday. Spot gold traded up over 1 percent at 4,413 an ounce.

As of 7.55 am ET, the Dow futures were up 95.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 22.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 219.50 points.

The U.S. major averages finished Tuesday lower. The Nasdaq slid 159.91 points or 0.6 percent to 26,445.45, the S&P 500 fell 24.91 points or 0.3 percent to 7,728.20 and the Dow declined 184.13 points or 0.3 percent to 53,791.85.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index or CPI for July will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.1 percent, while it was down 0.4 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Petroleum Status Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were up 2.5 million barrels and the gasoline inventories were down 1.6 million barrels.

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

Treasury Statement for July is scheduled at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $324.5 billion, while it was down $1.20.3 billion in the prior month.

Jobless Claims for the week is expected on Thursday at 8.30 am ET.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday. China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.32 percent to 3,946.68. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.83 percent to 25,440.17.

Japanese markets rose notably. The Nikkei average jumped 0.83 percent to 67,524.06. The broader Topix index settled 0.94 percent higher at 4,139.

Australian markets fell. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.45 percent to 9,209.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.41 percent lower at 9,404.70.