U.S. stock index futures were higher Wednesday after Germany's Constitutional Court supported the euro zone's bailout fund to help the region battle its ongoing debt crisis and ahead of possible stimulus action from the Federal Reserve.
Investors will be looking ahead to the Fed's two-day meeting on interest rate policy with the central bank's latest statement announced Thursday. The Dow rallied to its best level since December 2007 in the previous session amid growing expectations that the central bank will launch another round of quantitative easing on the heels of some recent weak economic data.
The German Constitutional Court , the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), but gave parliament veto powers over any future increases in the size of the fund. European shares ralliedfollowing the decision, while yields on Spanish and Italian debt fell.
In addition, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso gave his annual “state of the union” speech. Barroso called for a full fiscal unionand criticized European Union nations which do not fully support measures taken to combat the debt crisis.
On the economic front, import prices for the first time in five months as the cost of imported oil jumped, according to the Labor Department. Analysts had expected an overall gain of 1.4 percent. Meanwhile, export prices gained 0.9 percent last month, against expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent.
The Commerce Department will release wholesale inventories data for July at 10 am ET. Economists polled by Briefing.com forecast a rise of 0.3 percent, versus a 0.2 percent fall in the previous month.
Apple will be in focus as the tech giant is slated to unveil its newest iPhone. Apple gained after two days of declines. Mizuho Securities raised its price target on the iPhone maker to $750 from $725 ahead of the event. (Read More: How to Trade Apple’s iPhone 5 Event)
Facebook jumped after CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave his first post-IPO interview late Tuesday, saying the stock’s drop has been disappointing but he remains optimistic about the company’s future. Still, Needham cut its price target on the social-networking giant to $25 from $40.
The Treasury is set to auction $21 billion in 10-year notes, with the results available in the afternoon.
—By CNBC’s JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)
Coming Up This Week:
WEDNESDAY: Wholesale trade, oil inventories, 10-yr note auction, crop outlook report, Apple iPhone 5 event, FOMC meeting begins
THURSDAY: Jobless claims, PPI, 30-yr bond auction, FOMC mtg announcement, FOMC forecasts, Bernanke press conference; Earnings from Pier 1 Imports
FRIDAY: CPI, retail sales, industrial production, consumer sentiment, business inventories, FDA decision on Truvia
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