Stocks may see early strength on Wednesday, extending the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the Dow futures up by 127 points.
Early buying interest may be generated by strength overseas, as most markets across Asia and Europe moved to the upside on the day.
The overseas markets benefited from a rebound by the price of crude oil, with crude for February delivery climbing $0.88 to $31.32 a barrel.
The increase comes after the price of crude oil saw considerable volatility on Tuesday before ending the session at a twelve-year closing low.
In light of the recent focus on oil prices, trading may be impacted by the release of the Energy Information Administration's weekly report on oil inventories at 10:30 am ET.
Crude oil inventories are expected to increase by about 2.5 million barrels in the week ended January 8th after tumbling by 5.1 billion barrels in the previous week. Gasoline and distillate fuel inventories are also expected to rise.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve is also scheduled to release its Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in the twelve Fed districts.
The Beige Book could shed some light on the outlook for interest rates, although the Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month.
Among individual stocks, shares of CyberArk Software (CYBR) are moving sharply higher in pre-market after TheMarker financial newspaper reported the information security company is in talks to be acquired by Check Point Software (CHKP).
Chip maker Atmel (ATML) may also see early strength after the company said its board has determined an unsolicited acquisition proposal from Microchip Technology (MCHP) constitutes a superior proposal as defined in its existing merger agreement with Dialog Semiconductor.
On the other hand, shares of Express Scripts (ESRX) may come under pressure after health insurer Anthem (ANTM) said it is targeting $3 billion in savings on drugs from the pharmacy benefits manager.
After ending Monday's trading roughly flat, stocks fluctuated throughout the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages showed big swings as the day progressed but managed to end the session firmly in positive territory.
The major averages moved to the upside going into the close but remained below their best levels of the day. The Dow climbed 117.65 points or 0.7 percent to 16,516.22, the Nasdaq jumped 47.93 points or 1 percent to 4,685.92 and the S&P 500 advanced 15.01 points or 0.8 percent to 1,938.68.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 2.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.1 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index bucked the uptrend and tumbled by 2.4 percent.
The major European markets are seeing considerable strength on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has surged up by 1.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 1.1 percent.
In commodities trading, an ounce of gold is currently trading at $1,081.50, down $3.70 from the previous session's close of $1,085.20. On Tuesday, gold fell $11.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 118.23 yen compared to the 117.65 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0818 compared to yesterday's $1.0858.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.