U.S. stock index futures are signalling a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday, as a tentative rebound in oil prices fades.
Asian and European markets traded lower on Wednesday as oil prices declined, putting the brakes on a rally that had seen prices rise over 19 percent over the last four sessions.
U.S. investors will be watching for a further slew of earnings on Wednesday, with General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Toyota Motors, Clorox, Motorola Solutions, Ralph Lauren and Whirlpool due to report before the bell.
Earnings coming after the bell include Yum Brands, 21st Century Fox, Under Armour and Keurig Green Mountain.
On Wednesday, Sony said in its preliminary third-quarter results that operating profit had doubled to 178.3 billion yen ($1.52 billion), while sales rose 6 percent to 2.56 trillion yen in the October-December quarter, Reuters reported.
On the data front, mortgage applications are due at 7:00 a.m. (ET), the ADP Employment report at 8:15 a.m. – which is seen as a precursor to Friday's important jobs report. This will be followed by the PMI Services Index at 9:45 a.m. and the ISM Non-manufacturing Index at 10:00 a.m., which will also give indications on the state of health of the U.S. economy.
In addition, oil inventories data is published at 10:30 a.m. and the Cleveland Federal Reserve's President Loretta Mester speaks at 12:45p.m.
The oil data comes as U.S. crude futures traded over 3 percent lower on Wednesday, around $51.30 a barrel, while Brent crude for March delivery was down 1.4 percent at $56.46 a barrel.
Oil prices have fallen around 50 percent from a high of $114 a barrel last June on the back of an over-supply and lack of demand.
This week's rebound sparked hopes that prices had hit a bottom after a seven-month rout, but growth concerns in China have prompted renewed concern for global oil demand.
China's services sector grew at the slowest pace in six months in January as growth in new business weakened, an HSBC services purchasing manager's index (PMI) showed Wednesday, Reuters reported.