Futures Suggests Wall Street To Open In Negative Ahead Of OPEC Decision

(RTTNews) - OPEC countries are meeting today and a cut in oil supply is expected. The curb in supply might result in higher oil prices. The market sentiments might be influenced by the oil prices as well as economic announcements on Wednesday. Russian President Putin has formalized the annexation of four Ukrainian regions seized through invasion, while President Biden warned Russia and offered new security support worth $625 million to Ukraine.

Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open lower. Asian shares finished mostly down, while European shares are all down.

As of 7.40 am ET, the Dow futures were down 274.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were declining 34.00 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were sliding 100.25 points.

The U.S. major averages all closed sharply higher on Tuesday. The Dow ended stronger by 825.43 points or 2.8 percent at 30,316.32. The S&P 500 climbed 112.50 points or 3.06 percent to settle at 3,790.93, and the Nasdaq surged to 11,176.41, gaining 360.97 points or 3.34 percent.

On the economic front, the International Trade in Goods and Services for August is scheduled at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is negative $68 billion, while it was negative $70.6 billion in July.

US Services Purchasing Managers' Index or PMI Composite Final will be published at 9.45 am ET.

Automated Data Processing Inc.'s Employment Report for September will be released at 8.15 am ET. The consensus is 200,000, and in August it was 132,000.

The Institute for Supply Management's Services Index for September will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is 56.0, while it was up 56.9 in the previous month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Petroleum Status Report for the week is expected at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were up 0.2 million barrels and the gasoline inventories were down 2.4 million barrels.

Asian shares advanced on Wednesday. China and Indian markets were closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index soared 5.90 percent to 18,087.97.

Japanese shares eked out modest gains. The Nikkei average rose 0.48 percent to 27,120.53, ending above the key 27,000 level for the first time in two weeks. The broader Topix index closed 0.32 percent higher at 1,912.92.

Australian markets rallied. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 climbed 1.74 percent to 6,815.70 while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 1.82 percent higher at 7,030.90.

European shares are trading lower. CAC 40 of France is down 41.61 points or 0.69 percent. DAX of Germany is declining 94.83 points or 0.76 percent. FTSE 100 of England is losing 67.77 points or 0.96 percent. Swiss Market Index is sliding 54.84 points or 0.52 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 which provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is down 0.79 percent.