Wall Street is striving to put an end to its doubts and remains poised to open higher on Wednesday, as indicated by the trading in major index futures. Hopes that the central bank is in no mood to take its foot off the pedal led to a resilient advance yesterday. Traders could look for clues to confirm their expectations, as they pore over Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's Congressional testimony, and later on in the day receive the FOMC minutes. Some retail earnings reports from companies such as Lowe's (LOW), Staples (SPLS), Target (TGT) and American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and homebuilder Toll Brothers (TOL) could also set the tempo for today's market movement.
As of 6:15 pm ET, the Dow futures are rising 12 points, the S&P 500 Index futures are adding 1.40 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures are moving up 3 points.
U.S. stocks overcome late morning hiccups on Tuesday before staging a recovery and ended modestly higher, benefiting from positive earnings and indications from some Fed officials that the central bank stimulus may not be scaled back anytime soon.
On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its existing home sales report for April at 10 am ET. Economists expect existing home sales to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units compared to 4.920 million units in the previous month.
Bernanke will testify on the outlook for the U.S. economy before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress at 10 am ET. Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher is due to speak on the economy and Fed operations in Nacogdoches, Texas at 1 pm ET. The Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its weekly oil inventory report for the week ended May 17th at 10:30 am ET.
The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of the April 30th-May 1st FOMC meeting at 2 pm ET.
In corporate news, Intuit (INTU) reported third quarter earnings that exceeded estimates and in line revenues. The company reiterated its 2013 guidance that was also in line with estimates. NetApp's (NTAP fourth quarter results trailed expectations and its first quarter guidance was weak.
Compuware (CPWR) reported fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings of 5 cents per share on revenues of $239.9 million. The results were in line with estimates. For 2014, the company expects GAAP earnings of 35-37 cents per share on revenues of $1 billion. Analog Devices (ADI) reported second quarter earnings that were in line, while its revenues were slightly shy of estimates. However, the guidance for the third quarter was weak.
Gilead Sciences (GILD) said the European Medicines Agency has validated its Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, for its hepatitis C virus treatment sofosbuvir. The MAA is currently under assessment.
Avid Technologies (AVID), DryShips (DRYS), Guess (GES), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Limited Brands (LTD), Pacific Sunwear (PSUN), PetSmart (PETM), Semtech (SMTC), Shanda Games (GAME) and Synopsys (SNPS) are among the companies due to release their financial results after the close of trading.
The Asian markets closed mixed, as the Wall Street's resilience and the yen's weakening in the wake of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy announcement kept sentiment upbeat in some markets, while the Australian, Chinese and Hong Kong market retreated.
Japan's Nikkei closed up 246.24 points or 1.60 percent at 15,627. Export stocks led from the front. Sony rallied after reports suggested that its board may discuss the potential spin-off of its entertainment business. Australia's All Ordinaries closed 14.10 points or 0.27 percent lower at 5,142. Financial and real estate stocks declined sharply, helping to offset the modest strength seen in the material and energy spaces.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed at 23,253, down 113.19 points or 0.48 percent. Meanwhile, China's Shanghai Composite Index closed down 2.71 points or 0.12 percent at 2,302.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board concluded at the end of a 2-day monetary policy meeting that an unchanged policy stance is pertinent at this juncture. The bank reaffirmed its commitment to the easing measures it announced at its last meeting.
Earlier in the day, Japan's Ministry of Finance reported that Japan's trade deficit widened by less than expected in April. The results of a survey by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute showed that their index measuring consumer confidence in Australia fell to its lowest level since August 2012.
European markets opened lower and are showing volatility in early trading. The major averages in the region are currently lower. The markets may also stay focused on a meeting of EU leaders scheduled to be held in Brussels later today.
In corporate news, U.K.'s Cable & Wireless reversed to a profit on a pre-tax basis in the fiscal year ended March 31st 2013 from a loss last year. The adjusted pre-tax profit declined to $171 million from $193 million last year.
Among the economic reports from the region, U.K. Office of National Statistics reported that U.K. retail sales fell unexpectedly in April from the previous month. Meanwhile, the minutes of the Bank of England's May monetary policy meeting showed that the policymakers unanimously voted to hold interest rates, while the committee was split 6 to 3 in their decision to retain the size of the quantitative easing at 375 billion pounds.
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