U.S. stock markets pointed to a higher open on Wednesday morning, with the Dow rising back toward the closely-watched 20,000-level as investors became optimistic that clarity on President Donald Trump's economic policies will be forthcoming.
There is also a blast of earnings news expected.
The blue-chip Dow futures rose 50 points, or almost 0.3%, at 5:15AM ET (10:15GMT), the S&P 500 futures tacked on 5 points, or 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures added 17 points, or 0.3%.
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq setting record highs in a broad rally led by financial and technology stocks.
Investors are turning more optimistic amid an improved corporate earnings outlook and as President Trump begins to offer more details of his policies.
Trump signed two executive orders on Tuesday to move forward with construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, rolling back key Obama administration environmental actions in favor of expanding energy infrastructure.
He also signed orders rolling back some regulation and environmental rules, in order to expedite approval of infrastructure projects.
But concerns over his protectionist stance remain after Trump signed to formally withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with leaders of Canada and Mexico.
Additionally, a tweet by Trump Tuesday night signaled that he would sign an executive order on Wednesday to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
Market players will continue to focus on Trump for further details on his promises of tax reform, infrastructure spending and deregulation, as well as insight regarding policies on China and the domestic economy.
There is also weekly government data on crude oil supplies at 10:30AM ET (15:30GMT). Bearish American Petroleum Institute data showed a large build of 2.9 million barrels in oil stocks Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. crude was down 37 cents, or 0.7%, to $52.81, while Brent fell 26 cents to $55.08 a barrel.
Elsewhere, European stock markets moved sharply higher, as investors digested fresh earnings reports.
Earlier, in Asia, markets ended higher, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing up 0.2%, while Japan's Nikkei jumped around 1.5%.
In the currency market, the dollar edged lower against the yen, euro and pound, wallowing close to a seven-week trough amid concerns over the Trump Administration's protectionist stance.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.2% at 100.09 in New York morning trade, not far from a seven-week low of 99.88 touched earlier this week.
