Markets are set for a choppy Wednesday with investors and traders on edge as they wait for Washington to strike a last-minute deal to avoid a debt debacle that would see the country unable to pay all its bills.
U.S. stock futures were edging higher, looking to recover from a sharp drop Tuesday when lawmakers in Washington wrangled over the budget deal. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were up by roughly 0.4% ahead of the open.
Investors remain cautious as they wait to see if lawmakers will come to an agreement before Thursday’s debt ceiling deadline. A failure to reach an agreement could trigger a default on U.S. debt and chaos in global markets.
Rating agency Fitch put the U.S. on notice Tuesday afternoon, warning it could downgrade America’s AAA credit rating, citing the “political brinkmanship” on display in Washington.
Meanwhile, in corporate news, firms including Bank of America, BlackRock and PepsiCo are due to release quarterly results before the opening bell Wednesday. IBM and eBay are up in the afternoon.
After the bell Tuesday, Twitter announced plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Intel shares slipped in after-hours trading Tuesday after the chipmaker issued a pessimistic outlook for the rest of 2013 and lowered its profit forecast.
European markets were under pressure in morning trading as investors around the world fret about the political mess in Washington.
Asian markets ended with mixed results, as investors adopted a wait-and-see mentality.
