NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is moving higher before the opening bell on Wednesday ahead of more corporate earnings and new jobs data.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.4%, as did futures for the S&P 500. Oil prices ticked up ahead of Wednesday’s OPEC+ meeting. Global markets were mixed.
Markets are also on watch for potential economic ramifications from China after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, banned imports of Taiwanese citrus fruits and frozen fish in retaliation for Pelosi’s visit. But it has avoided disrupting the flow of processor chips and other industrial goods, a step that could jolt the global economy.
“The real show of force by China is still to come,” said Clifford Bennett of ACY Securities in a report.
In midday trading in Europe, the London’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1%, as did the DAX in Frankfurt. The CAC 40 in Paris moved 0.3% higher.
In Asian trading, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.7% to 3,163.67 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.5% to 27,741.90. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.4% to 19,767.09.
Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.2% to 14,777.02 after Beijing gave no sign it might disrupt industries such as Taiwanese producers of processor chips needed by Chinese factories that assemble the world’s smartphones.
The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.9% to 2,461.54 while Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.3% to 6,975.90.
India’s Sensex lost less than 0.1% to 58,158.34. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets rose.
U.S. markets finished lower Tuesday after the Labor Department said American employers posted fewer job openings than expected in June following interest rate hikes to cool surging inflation. U.S. jobless claims data for last week will be released Thursday and the government issues its July jobs report on Friday.
A going concern continues to be aggressive efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to tame inflation with interest rate hikes that are meant to cool the economy that is in danger of overheating.
Some weak data on the U.S. economy has prompted a debate on whether the peak for inflation has passed. Even if true, it could point to a rising risk of recession.
The OPEC oil cartel and its allies are meeting Wednesday to decide how much crude to produce in September amid high oil prices and unstable energy supplies exacerbated by the war Russia has waged on Ukraine.
They also will be considering what effects staggering inflation and rising COVID-19 rates may have on global demand for fuel in the fall, with gasoline prices at the pump still high, though much lower than the $5 per gallon average the U.S. hit in June. The motor club AAA says the average price for a regular gallon of gas in the U.S. settled down to $4.16 on Wednesday.
At its last meeting, the OPEC+ coalition decided to boost production in August by 648,000 barrels per day. Some energy experts are expecting a similar production increase for September.
Benchmark U.S. crude gained 63 cents to $95.05 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 53 cents the previous day to $94.42. Brent crude rose 41 cents to $100.95 per barrel in London.
Shares in CVS Health rose nearly 4% in premarket trading after the health care retailer beat second-quarter expectations and hiked its full-year forecast. CVS said growing prescription claims and COVID-19 test kits sales countered a drop in vaccinations.
The dollar gained to 133.31 yen from Tuesday’s 133.17 yen. The euro rose to $1.0192 from $1.0174.
