US Stock Futures Point To Lower Open Ahead Of PPI, Despite Upbeat EU GDP Data

U.S. stock index futures suggest a subdued opening to markets on Wednesday, ahead of inflation data from the U.S. and after flash Gross Domestic product, or GDP, data from euro zone countries showed that the region has emerged out of a recession.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.13 percent, while futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were down 0.21 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were down 0.12 percent.

Investors are likely to focus on the Department of Labor's Producer Price Index, or PPI, for July to be published at 8:30 a.m. EDT. The PPI, which measures the average price level for a range of capital and consumer goods, is estimated to rise 0.3 percent in July after rising 0.8 percent in the previous month.

The core PPI for July, also released by the Department of Labor on Wednesday, which measures the change in the selling price of goods and services sold by producers, excluding food and energy, is likely to remain flat at 0.2 percent.

On the earnings front, companies including Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) and NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) are expected to report quarterly earnings on Wednesday.

In Europe, markets traded marginally higher on Wednesday after reports showed that the 17-nation euro zone emerged from recession in the second quarter, with economic growth beating expectations in the second quarter.

The euro zone's flash GDP grew at 0.3 percent in the June-ended quarter, compared with a contraction of 0.3 percent in the first quarter, and beating analysts’ expectations of 0.2 percent growth, data released on Wednesday by the European Union's statistics office showed

France's CAC-40 was trading up 0.32 percent after data showed that the euro zone’s second-largest economy came out of recession in the second quarter. French flash GDP grew by 0.5 percent in second quarter, compared to a contraction of 0.2 percent in the previous quarter, and exceeded the expected growth rate of 0.2 percent.

Germany’s economy expanded at 0.7 percent in June-ended quarter, up from a 0.1 percent growth in the first quarter, and better than estimates that had pegged the growth to be at 0.6 percent.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.12 percent, London’s FTSE 100 was flat and Germany’s DAX-30 was up 0.17 percent.

In Asia too, markets traded mixed, as Japan’s Nikkei ended up 1.32 percent on a weaker yen, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended flat. In China, the Shanghai Composite index ended down 0.29 percent while trading in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was canceled due to Typhoon Utor. South Korea’s KOSPI Composite index added 0.57 percent.

India’s BSE Sensex closed up 0.72 percent, after data released by the Indian government showed an uptick in the country’s July wholesale price inflation, or WPI. The WPI rose to 5.79 percent in July, up from 4.86 percent in June, and compared to analysts’ expectation of a 5 percent rise.