Wall Street set to open higher as inflation fears ease

Wall Street is set for a positive start after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell played down fears of inflation, easing concerns about the central bank tapering its support programme and planning interest rate rises. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open 0.2% or 69 points higher, while the S&P 500 is forecast to climb 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite, which hit a new record on Tuesday, is indicated 0.8% higher. Sophie Griffiths, market analyst at Oanda, said: " Comments from the Fed's head honcho appear to be calming the rattled market stateside. Moreover, the downplaying of the risk of an early move to tighten monetary policy has lifted sentiment, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq the clear winner." Later comes the latest snapshot of the US economy with the purchasing manager reports for June. Among the movers in premarket trading, pharmaceutical group Biogen is 1.5% better after the US Food and Drug Administration approved its Alzheimer's drug. Three things to watch for on Wednesday: Firms in the mid-week earnings calendar include information firm IHS Markit Ltd (NYSE:INFO), business services group Concentrix Corp (NASDAQ:CNXC) and housebuilder KB Home (NYSE:KBH) Crypto markets will be back in focus after Bitcoin and other digital currencies mounted a recovery following Tuesday’s flash crash In macro news, aside from the flash PMI readings, US mortgage application data may provide some clarity on the state of the housing market