Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wednesday morning, as investors awaited testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for fresh cues on policy direction.
The blue-chip Dow futures ticked up 25 points, or around 0.1%, by 6:20AM ET (1020GMT), the S&P 500 futures added 3 points, or about 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 10 points, or roughly 0.2%.
U.S. stocks ended little changed on Tuesday in a session marked by knee-jerk reactions to events in Washington.
Yellen is scheduled to testify on the economy before the Senate Banking Committee at 10:00AM ET (1400GMT). Text of the testimony will be released 90 minutes before she starts speaking.
Her comments will be monitored closely for any new insight on the timing of the next U.S. rate hike and clues on how the central bank plans to pare back its massive balance sheet.
The Fed hiked rates at its June meeting and stuck to its forecast for one more rate hike this year, but the subdued inflation outlook has since raised doubts over whether the U.S. central bank will be able to stick to its planned tightening path.
Besides the Fed, investors will be keeping a close eye on Washington, for any more political noise coming out of the White House as the Russia-linked scandal continues to rumble on.
U.S. stocks took a brief tumble after Donald Trump Jr. released an email chain on Tuesday, which referred to a top Russian government prosecutor as offering the Trump campaign damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
The emails are the most concrete evidence yet that Trump campaign officials welcomed Russian help to win the election, a subject that has cast a cloud over Trump's presidency and spurred investigations by the Justice Department and Congress.
But by the closing bell, Wall Street shares had clawed back their losses as U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said that lawmakers would vote on a bill to roll back Obamacare next week and then move on to other legislative business.
In other markets, European stocks rose broadly, lifted by a rally in oil stocks and with Burberry driving luxury goods stocks higher after a well-received trading update.
Earlier, in Asia, markets ended mixed.
Elsewhere, oil prices posted solid gains as investors looked ahead to the Energy Department's weekly supply report at 10:30AM ET (1430GMT).
U.S. crude was at $45.70 a barrel, up 66 cents, or around 1.4%, while Brent rose 58 cents to $48.10.