By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening marginally higher Wednesday, struggling to add to record highs with investors wary of bidding the market too much higher ahead of the Federal Reserve 's virtual get-together at the end of the week.
At 6:55 AM ET (1055 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 15 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded 2 points, or 0.1%, higher, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 6 points, or 0.1%.
The broad-based S&P 500 closed 0.2% higher Tuesday, its fourth-straight positive session and a new closing high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%, also hitting a record close, while the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1%.
The annual Federal Reserve symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is at the forefront of investor thinking, with sentiment now swinging towards the central bank delaying the tapering of its massive bond-buying program until later in the year.
Also on the radar was the advancement of President Joe Biden’s ambitious domestic agenda, after the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a $3.5 trillion budget framework. The spending package, which is aimed at alleviating poverty and providing a broader social safety net, is likely to be financed in part by tax hikes on corporations and wealthier individuals.
The quarterly earnings season is coming to a close, but the likes of software company Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), cloud-based data storage company Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW), and cosmetics and beauty product retailer Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) are due Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) will be in the spotlight after the department store chain’s quarterly revenue was still down 6% from pre-pandemic levels in the latest quarter, while Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) stated that its Covid vaccine booster shot generated a promising immune response in early trials.
The economic data slate centers around the release of the durable goods orders for July, at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), which is expected to show a drop of 0.3% compared with June’s rise of 0.8%.
Elsewhere, oil prices stabilized Wednesday after recent strong gains on the back of a cut to global supply from a fire on a Mexican oil platform and signs that demand in the U.S., the world’s largest consumer, appears to be holding up despite rising Covid cases.
Data from the industry group the American Petroleum Institute, released late Tuesday, showed crude inventories fell 1.6 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 20, while gasoline stockpiles fell 1 million barrels.
Official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due to be released later Wednesday.
By 6:55 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.1% higher at $67.63 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 0.2% to $70.53. Both contracts have risen by around 8% over the previous two days.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.7% to $1,795.45/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.1747.