5 Things You Should Know Before the Stock Market Opens

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures suggested Wall Street would open higher Wednesday ahead of a report on durable goods for February.

European shares were mostly lower while stocks in Asia declined after consumer confidence in the U.S. slipped slightly in March. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% to finish at 10,182.57, a day after the index hit a one-year high.

The U.S. economic calendar on Wednesday features the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application activity index at 7 a.m. EDT; durable goods orders for February at 8:30 a.m.; and crude inventories at 10 a.m.

Economists call for a 2.8% increase in total durable goods orders, after a decline of 3.7% in January.

France has talked to the U.S. and the U.K. on a possible release of strategic oil stocks to push fuel prices lower, said a report from French newspaper Le Monde.

The newspaper said a release of strategic oil stocks "is a matter of weeks."

Oil prices fell to near $106 a barrel Wednesday in Asia following a larger-than-expected jump in U.S. crude supplies. Crude prices have risen from $75 a barrel in October.