(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were pointing to a generally positive open ahead of the bell on Wednesday after a bout of profit-taking in the previous session.
As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.02%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.51% and 0.73% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 249.07 points lower on Tuesday as traders seemingly spent the Labor Day break reassessing the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate cut later this month.
Google parent company Alphabet traded higher in pre-market action on the back of news that it will not have to sell its Chrome web browser, but will be forced to share information with competitors, according to a ruling from a US federal judge. The Department of Justice had initially demanded that Google sell Chrome - however, Tuesday's ruling means Alphabet will be able to keep the browser, but will be blocked from having exclusive contracts and will have to share search data with rivals.
The White House's ongoing tariff war was also getting a significant amount of attention ahead of the open after the appeals court ruled that Trump's so-called "reciprocal" tariffs were illegal, throwing fresh uncertainty into the mix. However, Scott Bessant has already stated that the administration was drawing up plans to implement the tariffs in a new setting should the court ultimately force their removal.
On the macro front, US mortgage applications fell by 1.2% in the week ended 29 August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, extending the prior week's 0.5% drop and marking a third consecutive weekly decline in mortgage demand. The drop took place despite a five-basis-point reduction in benchmark mortgage rates, which eased to their lowest level in almost five months. Applications for a mortgage to buy a new home fell by 1.2%, in line with weakening consumer sentiment, while applications to refinance a mortgage, which are more sensitive to short-term changes in interest rates, ticked up 0.9%.
Still to come, July factory orders and JOLTS jobs figures will be released at 1500 BST, with the latter set to be closely watched for signs of cooling in the US labour market, while the Federal Reserve's Beige Book will follow at 1900 BST, with particular attention likely to be paid to any hints as to the price pressures being felt by firms in response to Donald Trump's tariffs.
In the corporate space, Dollar Tree posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter results on Wednesday, as the discount retailer raised its full-year outlook following the completion of its Family Dollar divestiture, while retailer Macy's reported Q2 earnings that came in ahead of expectations, as improved trading across its core nameplates prompted the department store operator to hike its FY guidance.
Salesforce and Hewlett-Packard will report earnings after the close.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com