US Stock Futures Signal Higher Open Ahead Of ADP Employment Report, Fed's Beige Book

The U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Wednesday ahead of the publication of the Automatic Data Processing’s (ADP) National Employment Report and the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book of regional economic conditions.

The futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.26 percent, the futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were up 0.29 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 index were up 0.19 percent.

Investors will assess the ADP National Employment Report, which is a precursor to the closely watched non-farm payrolls report Friday. The ADP report, which is a measure of the monthly change of nonfarm private employment, is due to be released at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Economists are estimating private payrolls may rise by 170,000 in February after increasing 192,000 in January.

Investors are also expected to focus on the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a compendium of economic reports from the central bank’s twelve districts. The Beige Book is scheduled to release at 2 p.m. EST and will give a picture of economic trends and challenges in the country. The report is likely to show that economic activity continued to expand gradually but was mixed across districts.

In addition, the Commerce Department's factory orders report will be released after the opening bell. The report, which measures the change in the total value of the new purchase orders placed with manufacturers each month, is expected to fall 2.2 percent in January, down from a 1.8 percent increase in December.

The U.S. stock markets advanced Tuesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging to a new record high on the back of a bullish service sector data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stock index jumped 0.89 percent to hit all-time high of 14,253.77, the S&P 500 Index was up 0.96 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index surged 1.32 percent.

Data released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed that the U.S. services industry expanded at the fastest pace in a year in February as new orders and demand for exports accelerated. The ISM non-manufacturing index rose to 56 in February from 55.2 in January and surpassed Reuters' estimate of a slight decline to 55.

European stock markets were trading higher with Germany's DAX30 up 0.82 percent, France's CAC 40 gaining 0.24 percent and London's FTSE 100 advancing 0.29 percent.

Asian stock markets surged Wednesday, following the gains in the Wall Street. The Japanese Nikkei surged 2.13 percent, the Chinese Shanghai Composite gained 0.90 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.96 percent, while India’s BSE Sensex advanced 0.63 percent.