Futures were lower earlier, after the Japanese Nikkei tumbled nearly 4 percent when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's third "Abenomics" arrow to boost the economy failed to impress investors. Other Asian indexes and European bourses also traded lower on the news.
"The comments made by Abe today were not really a game changer and disappointed a market which seems to have been positioned for a USD/JPY and Nikkei rally," IG Index market strategist Stan Shamu wrote in a research note.
(Read More: Japan Fires 'Third Arrow,' Execution Now Key)
The so-called third arrow of Abe's growth-reviving strategy follows monetary and fiscal stimulus measures that were put into place earlier this year. So far, however, Japanese stocks remain jittery on fears of a tapering of stimulus measures by the Federal Reserve, and stuttering growth in China.
(Read More: Why Bad News Soon May Just Become...Bad News)
Also out on Wednesday is the ISM (Institute of Supply Management) nonmanufacturing report, at 10 am ET, which contains an employment component that could also provide a signal for Friday's jobs report. Economists polled by Reuters forecast the index will come in at 53.3 for May, slightly up on the previous month's reading of 53.1. Reading above 50 indicates expansion in the services sector.
"The non-manufacturing ISM has remained further in positive territory than has the manufacturing ISM in recent months, and we expect this trend to continue," Barclays analysts Hamish Pepper and Sudakshina Unnikrishnan said in a note Wednesday. "While the new orders and business activity indices fell in May, the employment index improved, and on balance we see the pace of service sector activity growth as having improved modestly since last month."
In company news, Apple shares fell nearly 1 percent in premarket trading after a trade agency ruled that the company violated a Samsung mobile phone patent.
The Treasury Department said it will sell an additional 30 million shares of General Motors common stock from the government's bailout of the U.S. auto sector. The Treasury, has said it will finish its exit by early next year.
JPMorgan Chase will take an $842 million hit due to the bankruptcy of Jefferson County, Ala., the company said, sending its shares down 0.4 percent.
In early economic reports, the Mortgage Bankers Association said home loan applications fell 11.5 percent last week as interest rates climbed past 4 percent for the first time in a year.
Treasury yields fell in morning trade, with the benchmark 10-year note dropping to 2.113 percent.