By Alexandria Gibbs, CNBC–

U.S. stock index futures ticked higher ahead of Wednesday’s open, as investors awaited the latest batch of corporate earnings.

Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 40 points, but indicated a drop of 7.63 points at the open. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 futures indicated a positive start to Wednesday’s session for their respective markets.

The moves in pre-market trade come after a strong Wall Street finish on Tuesday, where the Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 200 points by the close.

U.S. markets were lifted higher on the back of a strong set of earnings from major U.S. companies, including Netflix. Consequently, the topic will remain at the forefront on Wednesday.

During the trading day, Abbott Labs, Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bancorp, American Express, Alcoa and Pier 1 Imports are all scheduled to publish their latest earnings updates.

On the economic data front, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book is due out at 2 p.m. ET. Investors will be scouring the documents to see if there are any additional clues on how the U.S. economy is currently performing. Mortgage applications will come out at 7 a.m. ET, as per usual.

Speaking of the U.S. central bank, a number of speeches are scheduled. New York Fed President William Dudley is due to speak at two events in New York: one at the Community Bankers Conference on navigating future risks for community banks, and another at NY Lehman College on the state of the economy.

Meantime, Fed Governor Randal Quarles will be in Washington DC, where he is due to appear at the Bretton Woods Committee 2018 annual meeting.

Meantime, President Donald Trump will host the second day of his official working visit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida, where the two leaders are expected to talk about peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, trade and investment ties.

Investors will be keeping an eye on the geopolitical front, after the U.S. military conducted missile strikes against the Syrian government last weekend in response to a suspected chemical attack that took place in the Middle Eastern country. The strike was carried out in collaboration with Britain and France.