Stock futures were little changed Wednesday, a day after comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's indicated that interest rates may need to go higher for longer, spurring broad-based market selloff.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials ditched 36 points, or 0.1%, early Wednesday to 32,828.
Futures for the S&P 500 stepped back 4.5 points, or 0.1%, to 3,985.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite fell 11.25 points, or 0.1%, to 12,157.75.
The shakeup in markets came after Powell spoke before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. He cautioned lawmakers that the central bank's terminal rate will likely be higher than previously anticipated due to stubbornly high economic data in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, investors will be closely watching Powell speak before the House Financial Services Committee. Separately, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin will also be speaking on the labour market Wednesday morning. January's job openings and labor turnover data is due, as is the ADP jobs report for February.
A regulatory filing revealed Tuesday evening that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway added to its already giant stake in Occidental Petroleum.
Berkshire bought nearly 5.8 million shares of the oil company in separate trades Friday, Monday and Tuesday. The company paid in a range of $59.80 per share to $61.90 per share.
This also marks the first time since September that Berkshire has added to its Occidental stake, bringing it to more than $12 billion, based on Tuesday's close.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was trampled 2.4%.
Oil prices handed back 36 cents to $77.22 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dulled $1.80 to $1,818.20 U.S. an ounce.