Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know this morning, Wednesday, September 30:
1. Wall Street points to sharply higher open
U.S. stock futures pointed to strong gains at the open on Wednesday, as sentiment improved amid a global stock market rally.
During early morning hours in New York, the blue-chip Dow futures jumped 176 points, or 1.1%, the S&P 500 futures rose 22 points, or 1.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures rallied 50 points, or 1.22%.
On Tuesday, Wall Street ended mostly higher after a volatile session, as investors remained cautious over the health of China's economy and its potential impact on the timing of a U.S. interest rate increase.
2. Fed Chair Yellen speaks
Traders will be keeping an eye on Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who is due to give welcome remarks at the Federal Reserve's annual community banking conference in St. Louis later on Wednesday.
Yellen said last week that the U.S. central bank was likely to raise interest rates in 2015.
Most economists believe the Fed will begin raising rates in December after holding policy steady earlier this month due to concerns over the global economy, particularly China.
3. U.S. data in focus
The U.S. was to release the ADP jobs report for September at 8:15AM Eastern time, followed by the Chicago purchasing managers’ index, due for release at 9:45AM ET.
Investors also looked ahead to Friday’s U.S. jobs report for September, which could help to provide clarity on the likelihood of a near-term interest rate hike.
The consensus forecast is that the data will show jobs growth of 203,000 this month, following an increase of 173,000 in August, while the unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 5.1%.
4. Asia stocks rally
Japan's Nikkei closed up 2.7% on Wednesday, one day after falling to an eight-month low, while China's Shanghai Composite Index tacked on 0.5%, as Asian equity markets stabilized following a steep selloff in the prior session.
Japan's Nikkei dropped 14.1% in the second quarter, its steepest decline since 2010, while Chinese markets lost 34.1%, the worst performance since the peak of the global financial crisis.
5. European shares surge 2%
European stock markets rose sharply on Wednesday, following a positive lead from Asia overnight.
Germany's DAX, France’s CAC 40 and London's FTSE 100 were all up more than 2% in afternoon trade.
Shares in London-listed miner Glencore (LONDON:GLEN) rallied almost 10% after the firm said it had taken "proactive steps" to withstand the commodity market conditions and said the firm remains "operationally and financially robust".