Futures on the S&P 500 index fell 10.70 points to 978.90, while Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 19 points to 1,568. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 86 points.
U.S. stocks posted a modest rebound Tuesday, a day after taking their biggest tumble in six weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU 9,218, +82.60, +0.90%) advanced 0.9%, the S&P 500 Index (SPX 989.67, +9.94, +1.01%) gained 1% and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP 1,956, +25.08, +1.30%) logged a 1.3% gain.
Strategists were unimpressed by the bounce.
"The move higher in equities and commodities yesterday [was] relatively small. The S&P 500 was not even able to retest 992.40, Monday's breakout level," wrote Naeem Wahid, strategist at Bank of Scotland.
The weak tone, accompanied by a relatively light economic data calendar, "does not bode well for pro-risk trading today," Wahid said, in a note to clients.
After focusing for several weeks on better-than-expected earnings data, investors are now turning their attention back to the overall macroeconomic picture, said Joshua Raymond, a strategist at City Index.
Despite some signs of recovery, investors aren't convinced the scale of the market's rally since March is justified by the global economic picture, he said.
China's top stock markets saw heavy falls Wednesday, with the Shanghai Composite Index falling 4.3% and the Shenzhen Composite Index ending 4.9% lower. Resource companies led the way down.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ 43.96, +0.85, +1.97%) announced after the close Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 19% as sales of PCs, printers and software all declined. The results beat Wall Street's outlook, however, and the company boosted its predictions for fourth-quarter earnings
