1. Global stocks move higher

Asian shares gained on Wednesday led by Tokyo with investors taking a cue from Wall Street, as the Dow and S&P reached their 23rd and 15th record closing high since the U.S. elections.

European stocks also moved higher on Wednesday, led by gains in the financial sector after comments by Fed chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday and as investors focused on a fresh batch of corporate earnings.

Meanwhile, U.S. futures pointed to a pause after hitting new record highs a day earlier. At 10:56 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures inched up 0.05, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.04%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures edged forward 0.01%.

2. Fed under the spotlight

Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen will be back in front of Congress on Wednesday to testify on the U.S. economy at 15:00GMT.

Yellen will repeat her testimony this time to the House Financial Services Committee after reaffirming her view Tuesday that a continuation of current labor market conditions and inflation moving towards the 2% target would support the case for the Fed to hike rates at “upcoming meetings” and once again insisted that “waiting too long to remove accommodation would be unwise”.

Apart from Yellen, markets will receive a wider view of outlooks from U.S. central bank officials with appearances from Philadelphia Fed president Patrick Harker, Boston Fed chief Eric Rosengren and New York Fed president William Dudley throughout the day.

3. Economics data ahead

On the data front and particularly relevant considering Yellen’s appearance Wednesday, the Commerce Department will publish January inflation figures at 13:30GMT. Market analysts expect consumer prices to ease up 0.3%, while core inflation is forecast to increase 0.2%.

On a yearly base, core CPI is projected to rise 2.1%. Core prices are viewed by the Federal Reserve as a better gauge of longer-term inflationary pressure because they exclude the volatile food and energy categories. The central bank usually tries to aim for 2% core inflation or less.

Also at that time, the Commerce Department will publish data on January retail sales. The consensus forecast is that the report will show retail sales rose 0.1% last month, after gaining 0.6% in December. Core sales are forecast to inch up 0.4%, after rising 0.2% a month earlier.

4. The USD keeps getting stronger

The dollar is higher against other major currencies today, as comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen suggesting a near-term rate hike supported the greenback.

EUR/USD slipped 0.23% to 1.0552, the lowest since January 11 and GBP/USD declined 0.30% to a one-week low of 1.2429.

The dollar strengthened broadly after Ms. Yellen told the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday that waiting too long to raise interest rates would be "unwise," given the rise in inflation and economic growth.

However, she also expressed caution amid sustained uncertainty over economic policies under President Donald Trump's administration.