Rising oil prices and inflation worries continue to influence the investor sentiments on Wednesday. Jerome Powell's final FOMC meeting and press conference will be closely monitored today.
Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up.
Reports suggest that Iran will likely file a revised proposal for ending the Middle East crisis.
In the Asian trading session, gold edged lower. Brent crude prices remained elevated above $113 a barrel.
As of 7.45 am ET, the Dow futures were sliding 4.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 1.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 81.25 points.
The U.S. major averages ended in negative territory. The Nasdaq slid 223.30 points or 0.9 percent to 24,663.80, the S&P 500 fell 35.11 points or 0.5 percent to 7,138.90 and the Dow edged down 25.86 points or 0.1 percent to 49,141.93.
On the economic front, the Durable Goods Orders for March will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus for new orders is an increase of 0.5 percent, while it was down 1.4 percent in the prior month.
The Housing Starts and Permits for February will be released at 8.30 am ET. The Starts consensus is 1.370 million, and the permits consensus is 1.390 million.
International Trade in Goods (Advance) for March is expected at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a deficit of $87.8 billion.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Petroleum Status Report for the week will be revealed at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were up 1.9 million barrels, and gasoline inventories were down 4.6 million barrels.
The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC meeting announcement is scheduled at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is 0 bp change.
The Fed Chair Press Conference will be held at 2.30 pm ET.
Asian stocks edged higher on Wednesday. China's Shanghai Composite index surged 0.71 percent to 4,107.51. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 1.68 percent to 26,111.84.
Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
Australian markets ended slightly lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.27 percent to 8,687, while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.22 percent lower at 8,915.70.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.