Data from the Institute of Supply Management, released at 10 a.m. EST, is expected to show its non-manufacturing activity index fell to 53.5 last month from 55.3 last month, the fourth straight monthly decline. The service sector represents more than two-thirds of American economic activity.
Wall bourses started August on a sour note after data released on Monday showed that factory activity in the US, China and the eurozone weakened in July, while US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan raised concerns about rising tensions between the US and China. .
Pelosi left Taiwan on Wednesday after pledging solidarity and hailing its democracy.
Meanwhile, a trio of Federal Reserve officials from across the political spectrum signaled Tuesday that the U.S. central bank remains open to aggressive rate hikes to tame decades of high inflation.
A broadly optimistic second quarter earnings season has helped markets recover recently The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 12.4% and 16.9%, respectively, to hit mid-June lows.
As of 6:46 a.m. ET, the Dow e-minis were up 112 points, or 0.35%, the S&P 500 e-minis were up 13.5 points, or 0.33%, and the Nasdaq 100 minis were up 37.75 points, or 0.29%.
PayPal Holdings rose 11.7% in pre-market trading after raising its full-year profit forecast and saying activist investor Elliott Management has a stake in the fintech company worth more than $2 billion.
CVS Health Corp rose 2.1% as the largest US drugstore chain raised its full-year profit forecast as strong insurance business and sales of over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits helped the company post a 6% jump in second-quarter profit.
Starbucks Corp. gained 1.9% as the coffee chain posted a buoyant quarterly profit, helped by higher prices and strong demand for its coffee in the United States.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. fell 5.4% after the chipmaker beat third-quarter earnings forecasts.
Shares of vacation rental company Airbnb Inc fell 7.2% after forecasting bookings at the same level as the previous quarter’s record-breaking quarter, disappointing investors.
