The U.S. equity futures traded slightly lower on Wednesday morning after a Wall Street rally led by technology companies, although investors remain concerned about the war in Ukraine and inflation.
The major futures indexes suggest a decline of 0.2% when the opening bell rings.
The investors were closely watching what might happen with President Biden joining a NATO meeting and EU summit in Europe on Thursday, where sanctions and the Russian oil embargo are likely to be on the agenda.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures rose 38 cents, or 0.29%, to $109.63 a barrel, after losing 36 cents in the previous session.
After falling 14 cents, the futures of Brent rose by 74 cents, or 0.64%, to $115.94 a barrel.
The yield on the 10 year Treasury went up Wednesday to 2.39% from 2.30% late Monday. The yield was 2.14% on Friday, down from 2.14% on mortgages and other consumer loans.
The data on housing will be examined by traders. The Census Bureau is expected to say that sales of new single-family homes rose 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 810,000 in February. In January, sales increased from 801,000, as rising mortgage rates and higher prices kept some first-time homebuyers out of the market.
In Europe, London's FTSE gained 0.4%, Germany's DAX increased 0.2% and France's CAC was up 0.2%.
After the company said a U.S. judge allowed a probation period to end after it was nearly destroyed in a clash with Washington over its dealings with Iran and North Korea, the shares of the Chinese network equipment maker ZTE Corp went up nearly 27%.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1% to 4,511 on Tuesday. More than 70% of the stocks in the benchmark index are notching gains, with 61 of these stocks in the benchmark index notching gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.7% to 34,807. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 2% to 14,108. After a session in which shares increased more than 30%, GameStop shares rose another 16% in after-hours trading. The chairman of the videogame retailer Ryan Cohen said his firm bought 100,000 shares of the company's stock on Tuesday.
As the current quarter nears its close at the end of March, investors will be ready to prepare for the next round of corporate earnings reports, which could give a clearer picture of how industries are handling rising costs.