Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wednesday, as investors looked ahead to private payroll data, while keeping an eye on movements in the currency market.
The blue-chip Dow futures tumbled 112 points, or 0.63%, by 10:55GMT, or 6:55AM ET, the S&P 500 futures shed 15 points, or 0.73%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 32 points, or 0.73%.
Investors looked ahead to key U.S. data later in the day to gauge if the world's largest economy is strong enough to withstand further rate hikes this year.
The U.S. was to release the ADP jobs report for April at 12:15GMT, or 8:15AM ET, followed by the Institute of Supply Management’s report on service sector growth for April at 14:00GMT, or 10:00AM ET.
In other economic news, the trade deficit for March comes out at 8:30AM ET, along with productivity and unit labor costs data for the first quarter. Factory orders are also reported at 10:00AM ET.
Traders will also be paying attention to a speech by Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari later in the day to further judge the balance of opinion among policymakers on the prospect of further rate hikes.
The dollar bounced back against a basket of six major currencies on Wednesday, climbing to a high of 93.28, after crashing to 91.89 at one point on Tuesday, its weakest level since January 2015. It last stood at 93.25, up 0.25% for the day.
The greenback’s gains came after Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said the U.S. could see two further interest rate rises this year, while San Francisco Fed President John Williams said that he would support an interest-rate hike in June as long as he sees continued progress on the economy, inflation and jobs.
Among active pre-market movers, U.S.-listed shares of BHP Billiton Ltd (NYSE:BHP) and VALE SA (NYSE:VALE) slumped 7.7% and 7.5%, respectively after Brazilian federal prosecutors filed a $44 billion civil lawsuit over a catastrophic dam failure in November.
In earnings news, CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) shares rose more than 2% after the media company reported better-than-expected earnings after Tuesday’s closing bell.
Shares of Zillow Group Inc (NASDAQ:Z) surged almost 12% after the online real-estate database company late Tuesday lifted its full-year revenue outlook.
On the downside, Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) lost 4% after the biotechnology firm reported disappointing first quarter corporate results.
Companies slated to release quarterly earnings ahead of Wednesday’s opening bell include Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN) and Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), while Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) and 21st Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOX) will post numbers after Wall Street closes.
Elsewhere, European stock markets traded lower on Wednesday as investors digested a mixed bag of earnings. Earlier, shares in Asia closed lower as worries about global growth and creeping deflation resurfaced.
Meanwhile, oil prices swung between gains and losses on Wednesday ahead of U.S. weekly supply data due later in the session. The Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 14:30GMT, or 10:30AM ET, amid expectations for a gain of 1.7 million barrels.
Metals dropped across the board, with gold down 1% as the U.S. dollar staged a recovery, dampening the appeal of dollar-denominated commodities.