Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to modest gains at the open on Wednesday, as investors awaited a flurry of corporate earnings results from heavyweights like General Motors (N:GM) and Boeing (N:BA).
During early morning hours in New York, the blue-chip Dow futures inched up 57 points, or 0.32%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 8 points, or 0.4%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 16 points, or 0.35%.
On Tuesday, Wall Street ended lower as a decline in healthcare and biotech stocks offset gains in United Technologies (N:UTX) and Verizon.
With no major economic data on the calendar this session, earnings remained in focus.
Boeing, General Motors, Coca-Cola (N:KO), Kimberly-Clark (N:KMB) and Baker Hughes (N:BHI) are due to report quarterly earnings ahead of the opening bell.
And after the market closes, eBay Inc (O:EBAY), Texas Instruments (O:TXN) and American Express (N:AXP) are on the earnings docket.
Meanwhile, Ferrari (N:RACE) begins trading Wednesday after its initial public offering priced at $52, the top of the range Tuesday.
In Europe, equity markets swung between small gains and losses as investors became cautious ahead of the European Central Bank's monthly policy statement on Thursday and as markets focused on a fresh batch of corporate earnings reports.
Elsewhere, Asian equities were mixed, with China posting its worst one-day performance in five weeks. On the other hand, Japan's blue-chip Nikkei 225 index jumped nearly 2% to six-week highs.