Wall Street was set to open higher on Wednesday as crude oil prices rose for the fourth day in a row, with Brent crude on track to post its best 4-day run in more than a month.
Brent crude and U.S. light crude were up nearly 2 percent after data showed a fall in U.S. inventories after two years of surplus.
Shares of Dow components Exxon and Chevron were up more than 1 percent premarket. The S&P energy index was the biggest gainer on Tuesday among the 10 major S&P sectors.
Global stocks were also boosted on Wednesday by mining and energy shares as investors bought into the prospect of continued support from the world’s central banks.
Expectations that the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates off near-zero levels this year are fading, with concerns mounting about slowing global growth and its effect on corporate results.
Investors will focus on quarterly earnings reports over the next few weeks, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
He said PepsiCo’s better-than-expected quarterly results on Tuesday suggested companies may not fare as badly as expected.
S&P 500 companies are expected to report a 4.2 percent fall in third-quarter profit, the biggest decline in six years, according to Thomson Reuters data.
At 8:17 a.m. ET, S&P 500 e-minis were up 11 points, or 0.56 percent, with 220,212 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 34.25 points, or 0.8 percent, on volume of 43,204 contracts. Dow e-minis were up 96 points, or 0.58 percent, with 31,861 contracts changing hands.
U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday, snapping a five-day winning streak, led by a rout in healthcare and biotech stocks.
Yum Brands slumped almost 16 percent to $70.20 after it cut its full-year profit forecast due to a slower-than-expected recovery in China and a strong dollar.
Dow component McDonald’s, which also has a large exposure to China, fell 1.2 percent to $100.69.
Adobe fell nearly 2 percent to $83.50 after lowering its 2016 profit forecast due to a strong dollar.
Twitter rose 1.7 percent to $28.06 after Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his investment firm raised their stake to more than 5 percent.
Monsanto fell 3 percent to $85.44 after the seed company said it expects a slumping commodity market to squeeze results well into 2016.
Constellation Brands rose 3.6 percent to $136.0 after the wine maker and brewer posted a higher-than-expected profit and raised its full-year profit forecast.
A Fed report is expected to show U.S. consumer credit increased $19 billion in August, below the $19.10 billion rise in July.
