By Alexandra Gibbs, CNBC–

U.S. stock index futures came under pressure ahead of Wednesday’s open, as investors awaited fresh corporate earnings from major U.S. companies.

Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Dow futures fell 50 points, indicating a negative open of -43.92 points, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures also pointing to a flat to downbeat start to the day.

Markets have been on a roller coaster ride in recent sessions as political turmoil rattles investor sentiment. Aside from concerns over a tit-for-tat trade dispute between the U.S. and major economies including China, market focus has been mainly fixated by the economic crisis coming out of Turkey.

Turkey’s financial troubles have recently sparked fear of contagion with the country’s currency having taken a deep slide in recent trading sessions. The free fall in the Turkish lira has put investors on edge and continues to be watched closely, with the currency down over 60 percent against the dollar since the start of 2018.

Pressure has been ramped up in recent days, as market-watchers became jittery over the Turkish president’s control of the economy and U.S. leader Donald Trump saying last week that he was in support of doubling metal tariffs on the Middle Eastern country. In the latest surrounding the topic, on Tuesday Ankara’s government has announced new levies on American cars, cigarettes and alcohol, escalating tensions between the two nations.

While political turmoil is likely to keep investors on their toes Wednesday, news out of the corporate space will also be in focus.

In earnings news, Tencent, Macy’s, Pershing Square Holdings, Cisco Systems and NetApp are all due to publish their latest financial results.

Meantime a slew of economic data is due out. At 7 a.m. ET, the routine weekly mortgage applications are due, followed by retail sales, the Empire State Manufacturing survey, and productivity & costs, which are all released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

At 9:15 a.m. ET, industrial production figures are scheduled to be released, followed by business inventories and the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index at 10 a.m. ET. Treasury International Capital figures will then be released at 4 p.m. ET.

No members of the U.S. Federal Reserve are due to deliver remarks today.