On Wednesday, the U.S. stock futures indicate to steady open as the investors awaited the release of the fourth quarter earnings reports, while a disappointing German data added a fresh concerns to the euro zone's debt crisis. While Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated to a 0.09% rise, the S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.01% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed a 0.04% dip.

The markets were concerns after the official data showed that industrial production slightly rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in November, compared with expectations for a 1% increase. Separately, the European Central Bank expected to hold off cutting rates following the Thursday’s policy meeting, but some market participants expected that the bank to flag the possibility of the rate cuts later in the year.

Alcoa soar 2.64% in the pre-market trade, after the U.S. aluminum producer closed its earnings season on Tuesday by saying that it swung to a fourth-quarter profit and expects the global aluminum demand to grow 7% in 2013, compared to 6% in 2012.

In addition, Apple climbed 0.23% pre-market, after the Wall Street Journal posted that the tech giant is working on the lower-end iPhone.

Across the Atlantic, the European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 slightly up at 0.08%, France’s CAC 40 closed higher 0.05%, Germany's DAX a bit up 0.04% higher, while Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.38%.

Over the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 0.46%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.67%.

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