Wall Street Aims To Start Broadly Up

(RTTNews) - Concerns on energy supply in view of the escalating tensions in the Middle East on Wednesday. Asian shares finished mostly up, while European shares are trading broadly down.

Oil prices traded higher for a third consecutive session. Brent crude futures traded half a percent higher above $85 a barrel.

Gold prices fell toward $4,000 an ounce. Spot gold dipped 0.6 percent to $4,028.40 an ounce.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open mostly up.

As of 7.50 am ET, the Dow futures were declining 1.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were gaining 8.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 127.00 points.

The U.S. major averages finished positive on Wednesday. The Nasdaq ended up 233.83 points or 0.9 percent at 26,107.01. The S&P 500 also climbed 28.25 points or 0.4 percent to 7,543.59.

On the economic front, The PPI Final Demand for June will be released at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.1 percent, while it was up 1.1 percent in the prior month.

The Empire State Manufacturing Index for July will be issued at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is 8.6, while it was up 5.7 in June.

The Energy Information Administration's Petroleum Status Report for the week will be revealed at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were up 3.0 million barrels, while the gasoline inventories were down 1.9 million barrels.

The Beige Book, which is published two weeks before the monetary policy meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee at 2.00 pm ET.

John Williams will be giving a key note address at a conference organized by Partnership for New York at 8.45 am ET.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will testify before the Senate Banking Committee hearing.

Alberto Musalem will give a welcome remark before a Homer Hones Memorial Lecture event at 6.30 pm ET.

Economist Lisa Cook will speak before an Exchequer Club luncheon at 1.00 pm ET.

Asian stocks rose broadly on Wednesday. China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.29 percent to 3,955.58. Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 1.40 percent to 24,681.10.

Japanese markets rose sharply. The Nikkei average surged 1.49 percent to 68,751.51 while the broader Topix index ended up 1.22 percent at 4,088.12.

Australian markets eked out modest gains. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.37 percent to 8,841.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.37 percent higher at 9,034.60.