07:13 AM EDT, 04/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Wall Street futures pointed moderately higher pre-bell Wednesday as traders weighed the unfolding earnings season against a possible backdrop of "higher-for-longer" interest rates.

In the futures, the S&P 500 rose 0.5%, the Nasdaq inclined 0.3% and the Dow Jones was up 0.5%.

Asian exchanges traded mostly lower overnight on interest rate outlooks, while European bourses tracked moderately higher midday on the continent.

Autodesk ( ADSK ) traded down 3.6% pre-bell after the software maker on Tuesday said a review of its accounting practices is ongoing and it will not be able to file its annual report with regulators within an extension period.

Abbott Laboratories ( ABT ) and Prologis ( PLD ) plan to report earnings pre-bell, among others, while US Bancorp ( USB ) has just posted its earnings.

On the economic calendar, the weekly MBA mortgage applications bulletin posted at 7 am ET will be followed by the Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations report for April at 10 am.

The weekly EIA domestic oil inventories bulletin posts at 10:30 am.

The Federal Reserve publishes its Beige Book, a compendium of economic reports from the 12 regional banks, at 2 pm.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks at 5:30 pm, and Fed Governor Michelle Bowman at 7:15 pm.

In pre-market action, Bitcoin traded at $62,978, West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded lower at $84.58, and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.64%. Spot gold traded for $2,387 an ounce, again testing all-time highs.