At 3:00 a.m. ET, Dow futures were up 34 points, pointing to a higher open of more than 43 points. Futures on S&P 500 and Nasdaq were higher too.

Meanwhile, trade turmoil continues to shake up market sentiment. During his state visit to the U.K., President Donald Trump doubled down on his recent tariff threat on Mexico, telling reporters that his new policy would “take effect next week. ”

· European stocks started Wednesday’s session on a slightly cautious note, after Wall Street delivered its second best day of 2019 trading on Tuesday.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 traded around the flatline after the bell, travel and leisure stocks making a strong start with a 0.7% gain while autos slipped 0.8% in early deals.

· Asian shares advanced on Wednesday after comments from Federal Reserve officials suggested a U.S. rate cut this year was on the cards, boosting investor sentiment and pushing the dollar lower.

The early momentum came from Wall Street’s overnight rally, helping lift MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei average climbed 1.8%.

Chinese shares also rebounded, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite up 0.4% and the blue-chip CSI 300 rising 0.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.5%.

European shares were expected to open flat to slightly higher, with futures for Britain’s FTSE opening flat and Germany’s DAX ticking up 0.1%.

· Japan’s Nikkei rebounded sharply on Wednesday thanks to a rally in U.S. stocks after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signalled a possible rate cut.

The Nikkei share average ended 1.8% higher at 20,776.10, posting the biggest daily percentage gain since March 26.

Investors are buying back recently battered stocks such as exporters and financial firms, analysts said, though developments in the U.S.-China trade war will have the ultimate say in future price moves.

“The market knows that even if the Fed cuts rates, global trade tensions won’t be resolved easily,” said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities, adding that the Fed’s message was positive for investors.

· China’s main stock market indexes ended flat on Wednesday as Beijing’s plans to conduct accounting checks pulled healthcare firms lower, offsetting a regional rebound sparked by the U.S. central bank’s comments that raised hopes of an interest rate cut.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.03% at 2,861.42. The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.04%, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.41%, the consumer staples sector down0.52% and the real estate index up 2.28%

The healthcare sub-index slumped 4.07% after a notice on the website of China’s Ministry of Finance said the country will carry quality checks on accounting information in the pharmaceuticals industry in June and July

Offering a boost to investor sentiment, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the country’s economy is stable, healthy and well placed to meet all risks and challenges.

Reference: Reuters, CNBC