Here are 10 things you should know for Wednesday, Jan. 29:
1.-- U.S. stock futures were slipping ahead of a Federal Reserve stimulus decision Wednesday despite a hike in lending rates from Turkey and better consumer confidence from Germany.
Stocks in Europe fell, reversing earlier gains. Asian shares closed Wednesday's session with gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 2.7%.
Turkey's central bank hiked its overnight lending rate to 12% from 7.75% and overnight borrowing rate to 8% from 3.5% to stabilize the Turkish lira and keep inflation under control.
2.-- The economic calendar in the U.S. Wednesday includes the rates decision from the Federal Open Market Committee at 2 p.m. EST. The two-day meeting marks Ben Bernanke's last as chairman of the central bank.
3.-- U.S. stocks on Tuesday jumped the most in two weeks, fueled by an upbeat housing price report and a slew of better-than-expected earnings and forecasts.
The S&P 500 rose 10.94 points, or 0.6%, to close at 1,792.50. The Dow Jones industrial Average gained 90.68 points, or 0.6%, to 15,928.56. The Nasdaq rose 14.35 points, or 0.4%, to 4,097.96.
4.-- President Obama told the American people on Tuesday night in his fifth State of the Union address that the U.S. economy was poised to continue adding more jobs.
The president noted the rebounding housing market, the manufacturing sector adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s, the country having produced more of its own oil than from abroad for the first time since the Ronald Reagan administration and large cuts in the deficit.
The speech comes more than five years after the financial crisis triggered the worst recession since the Great Depression and as the unemployment rate sits at its lowest level since October 2008.
The president said he would ask Congress to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10, a move that comes as Democrats highlight minimum wage as a central discussion of the income inequality debate.
