By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are set to open higher Wednesday, recouping some of Tuesday’s sharp losses, helped by President Donald Trump seemingly shifting his stance on Federal support.
At 07:10 AM ET (1110 GMT), S&P 500 futures traded 22 points, or 0.7%, higher, the Dow futures contract rose 198 points, or 0.7%, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 65 points, or 0.6%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.3%, or 375 points, lower Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6%, after President Trump announced via a tweet that he had halted talks over a new coronavirus relief bill until after the election.
Trump terminated the stimulus talks less than 24 hours after he returned home after three nights in hospital suffering from Covid-19, with questions still being asked about his health.
However, in a series of tweets later Tuesday, the president rowed back on the idea of no stimulus, suggesting that Congress work on separate deals for $25 billion to help the airlines and another $135 billion for small businesses, as well as $1,200 direct stimulus checks.
This change in stance has helped investors recover some of their confidence after the sharp selloff. However, this piecemeal approach has been largely rejected by Democrats in the past, and given the heated political climate it’s unlikely they will look too favorably upon it now.
Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence are set to debate Wednesday evening, with the coronavirus pandemic likely to be front and center given the events of the last few days. This is expected to be the only debate between the two.
On the data front, the minutes from the last Federal Reserve rate-setting meeting are due to be published at 2:00 PM ET (1800 GMT). These are likely to be studied carefully, especially after Fed Chair Jerome Powell called for additional fiscal support during a speech Tuesday, saying too little stimulus is far worse than too much.
In the corporate sector, eyes will be on the tech sector after a report from the Democrat-led House panel called out the tech giants for their monopolistic powers, suggesting they should be forced to separate their dominant online platforms from other business lines.
Oil prices slumped Wednesday, weighed by a larger-than-expected build in crude oil supplies after the American Petroleum Institute reported a surge in U.S. oil inventories of 951,000 barrels last week.
Investors now await data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, due later Wednesday, while the path of Hurricane Delta in the Gulf of Mexico will also be carefully scrutinized.
U.S. crude futures traded 2.9% lower at $39.50 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract fell 2.5% to $41.58.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 1.1% to $1,887.20/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.1760.