U.S. stock index futures point to a lower open on Wednesday ahead of another round of corporate earnings reports. The lower market sentiment follows historic rallies by the Dow Jones and S&P 500 Indices on Tuesday.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.03 percent, futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were down 0.07 percent, and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were down 0.08 percent.

Investors continue to stay focused on this week's corporate quarterly earnings reports with News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) and Groupon Inc. (Nasdaq: GRPN) expected to announce their quarterly results on Wednesday.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast News Corp. to report slightly lower third quarter earnings of $0.36 per share on revenues of $9.14 billion, compared with a profit of $0.37 per share on revenues of $8.40 billion in the same period last year.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect Groupon Inc. to report a narrow loss of $0.01 a share, compare with $0.02 a share reported in the year ago period.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average made financial history on Tuesday, breaching the 15,000 mark for the first time ever. The index closed up 87.31 points, or 0.58 percent, at 15,056.20. The broader S&P 500 Index climbed 8.46 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at a record high of 1,625.96. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.11 percent to 3,396.6 points.

European markets opened on a higher note on Wednesday supported by a better-than-expected China trade data.

The London's FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent, while Germany's DAX rose 0.22 percent and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.40 percent.

In Asia, most of the markets traded in the green based on strong Chinese trade data. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.74 percent to 14,285.69. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.86 percent to close at 23244.35, while China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.48 percent to 2246.30. South Korea's Kospi advanced marginally 0.11 percent to 1,956.45.

China reported a trade surplus of $18.6 billion for April, supported by a 14.7 percent surge in exports and a 16.8 percent growth in imports, compared with the year ago period. The trade data beat market expectations of a 10.3 percent rise in exports, a 13.9 percent increase in imports and a trade surplus of $15.1 billion.

However, analysts from Nomura expressed concerns over accuracy of the data as they averred that Chinese companies provided false information to the government to hide efforts to bring in more capital from abroad than the state allowed.

“We believe exports to destinations like Hong Kong, a major financial hub, are likely being over-invoiced in an attempt to circumvent capital controls and bring foreign capital into China,” Nomura analyst Zhiwei Zhang said in a research note.

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