Investing.com - Wall Street futures Wednesday pointed to a slightly higher open for the major U.S. indexes, led by gains in the energy sector amid hopes that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is close to a deal to curb output.
The blue-chip Dow futures rose 36 points or 0.19%, S&P 500 futures edged up 5.75 points or 0.26%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures inched up 5.25 points or 0.11%.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 and the Dow both closed 0.1% higher and both indexes were on course for monthly gains of 3.7% and 5.4%, respectively.
Oil prices remained in focus as they surged higher amid optimism that OPEC will be able to reach an agreement later Wednesday on output cuts aimed at reducing global oversupply and propping up prices.
In the energy sector, Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), Apache (NYSE:APA), Transocean Ltd (NYSE:RIG) and Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) were among largest premarket gainers on the S&P 500.
In currency markets, the dollar pushed higher, with the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, at 101.11, holding below the almost 14-year highs of 102.07 reached last Thursday.
Investors were waiting on a raft of U.S. data, including the ADP nonfarm payrolls report for November at 8:15 ET, which was being released ahead of Friday’s official nonfarm payrolls data.
A report on personal income and spending was due at 08:30 ET, followed by a report on business conditions in the Chicago area then data on pending home sales for November at 10:00 ET.
Several Federal Reserve official were also due to speak later in the day and the U.S. central bank was to release its Beige Book.