Third quarter GDP and the Fed's Beige Book might be the highlights on Wednesday. Investors are looking ahead to the geo-political scenario and changes in oil prices.
As of 7.05 am ET, the Dow futures were gaining 102.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 17.50 points, and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 78.50 points.
The U.S. major averages finished Tuesday in positive territory. The Dow crept up 83.51 points or 0.2 percent to 35,416.98, the Nasdaq rose 40.73 points or 0.3 percent to 14,281.76 and the S&P 500 inched up 4.46 points or 0.1 percent to 4,554.89.
On the economic front, the GDP for the third quarter will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 4.9 percent, while it was up 4.9 percent in the prior quarter.
The International Trade in Goods (Advance) for October will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for $86.7 billion, while the deficit was $86.8 billion in the previous month.
The Corporate Profits for the third quarter is expected at 8.30 am ET. In the prior quarter, the profits were down 7.8 percent.
The Wholesale Inventories (Advance) for October will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for an increase of 0.2 percent, while it was at 0.0 percent.
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 8.7 million barrels and the gasoline inventories were up 0.7 million barrels. The distillate inventories were down 0.1 million barrels.
The Survey of Business Uncertainty for November is scheduled at 11.00 am ET. In the prior month, the sales growth was up 4.13 percent.
The Beige Book will be released at 2.00 pm ET.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester will give a keynote speech before the Policy Conference 2023 hosted by the Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business at 1.45 pm ET.
Asian markets closed mostly down on Wednesday.
China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.56 percent to finish trading at 3,021.69. The day's trading ranged between 3,038.98 and 3,017.66. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.91 percent to close at 9,744.39.
The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 87 points or 0.26 percent to end trading at 33,244.43.
The Hang Seng Index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange shed 361 points or 2.1 percent from the previous close to finish trading at 16,993.44.
Australia's S&P/ASX200 closed trading at 7,035.30, adding 20 points or 0.29 percent.
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April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.