Wall Street shares were expected to open with solid gains on Wednesday, bolstered by a strong performance in Asian and European markets.
Still, after a quarter which has seen the S&P 500 tumble more than 8 percent, sentiment was expected to remain vulnerable to worries about China's slowing economy, a rout in commodity prices and uncertainty about the timing of U.S. interest rate hikes.
"Given the volatility seen in the past couple of months there is a feeling that something may have changed with the slow slide in commodity prices since the peaks of 2011, starting to sow some significant seeds of concern, about where the next catalyst for a move higher will come from," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.
Analysts at Barclays said global stock markets were closing in on their worst quarter since 2011.
But for now, positive sentiment has held sway. In early London trade, Dow Jones industrial average futures were almost 141 points higher and suggesting a firm open for the blue-chip U.S. stock index.
Asian stocks closed broadly higher, with Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index rallying 2.70 percent. European markets followed that lead, notching up strong gains at the open with both Germany's Dax and France's Cac climbing more than 2 percent.
The session ahead brings a number of potentially market-moving events. The September ADP Employment report is out at 0815 a.m. ET, while the September Chicago purchasing managers index is due at 0945 a.m. ET.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is expected to give the opening remarks at a Community Banking Research and Policy Conference at 3 p.m. ET in St. Louis, Missouri. Last week the Fed chief suggested that the central bank was still likely to lift interest rates before year-end.
St Louis Fed President James Bullard, New York Fed President Bill Dudley and Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard are also scheduled to speak later in the day.
Developments in Washington could fall under the spotlight since the Federal Government runs out of money at midnight – unless Congress and the President approve a new budget or a continuing resolution.
Failure to reach an agreement will result in a government shutdown.
Shut down looms as Congress is 'up in arms'
"The likelihood is that there will not be a government shutdown, which will bring relief," Colleen Graffy, Chairman, Society of English and American Lawyers told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Wednesday.
"But they do want to look at talks that would carry through over two years that prevent any discussion over the budget during this election cycle," she said.
