Trading activities on United States stock index pointed to a strong opening for Wall Street on Wednesday, November, 1st as an upbeat third-quarter earnings season lifted sentiment while investors waited for clues on future rate hikes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting.
The Federal Reserve ends its two-day policy meeting later in the day and will release its statement.
The central bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged as speculation swirls on who will be its next leader, but will likely point to a firming economy as it edges closer to a possible rate rise next month.
The White House revealed that President Donald Trump will announce his Fed pick on Thursday,November 2nd. Trump is expected to choose Fed Governor Jerome Powell, who is seen as more stock-market friendly.
Investors were also keenly watching developments around a U.S. tax-cut plan.
Legislation expected on Wednesday has been delayed by a day as lawmakers try to resolve differences.
October ended on strong, with the major Wall Street indexes recording their best monthly gains since February, supported by technology and consumer staple stocks.
Brent crude futures jumped to 1 percent to $61.58 per barrel, its highest since mid-2015, as data showed OPEC has significantly improved compliance with its pledged supply cuts and Russia is also widely expected to keep to the deal.
On Friday, the data non-farm payrolls report for October will reveal if the labor market has strengthened after the hurricane-ravage on September 2017.
A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management is likely to show its national manufacturing index slipped to 59.5 percent in October from 60.8 percent in September 2017.
Among early movers, US Steel jumped 8 percent after reporting better-than-expected profit and sales.
Facebook , one of the leading social media platforms, was up 1.3 percent ahead of the social media giant’s earnings report after market.
Electronic Arts dipped more than 1 percent after the videogame publisher’s revenue forecast for the holiday shopping quarter narrowly missed estimates.
Estee Lauder gained 1.52 percent after the cosmetics maker’s sales beat estimates.
