Premarket
U.S. futures were rising premarket Wednesday, Dec. 20, indicating a strong opening for markets and a new record high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Dow futures climbed 0.42% while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures rose 0.33% and 0.42%, respectively.
Major indices in the Asian and European markets were mixed.
In Washington, the House of Representatives on Wednesday is expected to give final approval to the major tax bill before noon and send it to President Trump to sign, the president's first major legislative win since he took office.
The Senate approved the bill earlier Wednesday morning by a 51-48 vote.
The bill was sent back to the House, which had passed it Tuesday, for a second vote because of a procedural error.
President Trump will hold a press conference at 1 p.m.
U.S. Existing Home Sales Jumped 5.6% in November
U.S. home sales increased more than expected in November, hitting their highest level in nearly 11 years, the latest indication that housing was regaining momentum after almost stalling this year, according to Reuters.
The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday that existing home sales jumped 5.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.81 million units last month amid continued recovery in areas in the South ravaged by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
That was the highest level since December 2006 and followed an upwardly revised 5.50 million-unit pace in October.
Saudi's Probing for a U.S Shale Oil Deal
Saudi Arabia is searching for an energy deal in American shale country, as economic upheaval pushes it to seek its first-ever international oil and gas production investments, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., also known as Aramco, has had initial conversations about either taking a stake in Tellurian Inc. (TELL) , a Houston -based liquefied natural gas developer, or agreeing to buy some of its fuel in the future, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
Separately, it has also inquired about acquiring assets in two major U.S. oil and gas basins, the Permian and Eagle Ford, the people said.
More and More Online Holiday Shoppers Prefer Amazon
More U.S. online shoppers plan to give Amazon.com (AMZN) the bulk of their holiday business this year than in previous years, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, despite costly efforts by traditional retailers to attract customers to their websites.
The online poll of 2,644 adults, released on Wednesday, found that 60% of online shoppers planned to do most of their holiday buying on Amazon.com, up from 50% during the same period in 2015.
The proportion of shoppers who said they expected to do most of their shopping at Walmart.com (WMT) , Target.com (TGT) and Macys.com (M) declined by about 1 percentage point each in that period.
