By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening higher Wednesday, boosted by solid earnings from corporate giants Nike and FedEx as investors seek to close a rough year on a positive note.
At 07:00 ET (12:00 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 265 points, or 0.8%, S&P 500 Futures traded 22 points, or 0.6% higher, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 45 points, or 0.4%.
The three major averages closed higher Tuesday, snapping a four-day losing streak and raising hopes of a late rally to end the year.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose just short of 100 points, or 0.3%, the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged into positive territory.
Helping the tone Wednesday have been strong quarterly results after the close of the previous session by Nike (NYSE:NKE), the largest sportswear maker in the world and a key gauge of discretionary consumer spending, and delivery giant FedEx (NYSE:FDX), often seen as a bellwether for global economic activity.
Nike stock is seen trading over 12% higher premarket after the retailer reported its best quarterly revenue growth in more than a decade barring one quarter.
FedEx stock rose 4.7% premarket after the transportation giant promised to aggressively cut costs this year by parking planes, closing offices, stopping rural Sunday delivery, and furloughing workers in its freight division, in order to further boost profits.
These gains are putting a gloss on what has been a difficult year for U.S. equity markets as soaring inflation has forced the Federal Reserve into aggressive tightening, potentially tipping the economy into a recession.
From the market’s yearly high on Jan. 3, U.S. stocks have shed $11.7 trillion in market cap, according to data from Bespoke Group, with more than $5 trillion in these losses coming from just six companies - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).
Tesla will again be in focus following a report that the electric vehicle manufacturer is implementing a hiring freeze ahead of another wave of layoffs next quarter as it seeks to cut costs.
Earnings from the likes of chipmaker Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) and cruise operator Carnival (NYSE:CCL) are also due.
On the economic calendar, investors will also get data on housing and consumer confidence later this session.
Oil prices edged higher Wednesday, boosted by a larger-than-expected reduction in U.S. crude inventories of just over 3 million barrels in the week to Dec. 16, according to data from the industry body American Petroleum Institute.
The Energy Information Administration is set to release the official inventory figures later in the session.
By 07:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 2.1% higher at $77.84 a barrel, while the Brent contract rose 2.1% to $81.70.
While oil prices have risen in recent sessions, they are still nursing sharp losses over the last few months as rising interest rates and high inflation fed into concerns over a potential recession in 2023.
Additionally, gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,823.65/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% lower at 1.0612.