By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

SolarCity shares plunge premarket after earnings

Wall Street was set for a firmly higher open on Wednesday, with investors waiting for Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen's testimony for clues to the central bank's next moves.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 110 points, or 0.7%, to 16,069, while those for the S&P 500 index climbed 16.80 points, or 0.9%, to 1,865. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rallied 50.50 points, or 1.3%, to 3,994.75.

The gains followed a rally in Europe (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-snap-7-day-losing-streak-as-oil-rebounds-2016-02-10), where banks recovered somewhat after their recent selloff.

The key event for Wednesday is Yellen's semiannual monetary policy report to the House Financial Services Committee, which could shed light on the Fed's view on future rate hikes. Investors will be listening for any signs of regret from the central bank about its decision to raise interest rates in December, the first hike in almost a decade.

Read:Five questions Janet Yellen must answer (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/five-questions-janet-yellen-must-answer-2016-02-09)

"Janet Yellen will find herself caught between a rock and a hard place as she testifies on the economy before the Congressional committee," said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at London Capital Group, in a note. "With such volatility in the markets, and the Fed apparently still sticking to its guns in respect of monetary tightening, we can expect some general choppiness, no matter what sort of tone is struck."

"Certainly, a move away from any excessive hawkishness might be the right medicine for risk assets, albeit a temporary relief rather than an actual cure," she added.

U.S. stocks ended a choppy session slightly lower on Tuesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wall-street-scrabbles-for-direction-with-one-eye-on-yellen-2016-02-09) as traders turned cautious of making any big moves ahead of the testimony. On Thursday, Yellen will appear before the Senate Banking Committee.

Also on the economic calendar on Wednesday, the federal budget for January is due out at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

Movers and shakers: Shares of SolarCity Corp. (SCTY) tumbled 29% in premarket action after the solar power company late Tuesday said it'll continue to fall short of its installation goals (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/solarcity-shares-drop-on-soft-forecast-2016-02-09-18485718).

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) dropped 2.1% ahead of the bell on concerns about its cable-sports network (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/disney-espn-concern-undercuts-star-wars-strength-2016-02-09).

U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank AG (DBK.XE) rallied 12% on news the German bank is considering buying back billions of euros of its own bonds.

On Wednesday, Humana Inc. (HUM) and Time Warner Inc. (TWX) will report earnings ahead of the bell.

After the close,Twitter Inc. (TWTR) is expected to report, with analysts watching for user growth (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/twitters-bullish-divergence-gives-investors-a-glimmer-of-hope-2016-02-09) and rumored product changes.

Also reporting after hours are Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Expedia Inc. (EXPE), Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) and Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM).

Other markets: Asian stock markets closed mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 index closing at the lowest level since 2014 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/japan-stocks-hit-lowest-level-since-2014-2016-02-09), while China's markets remained shuttered for a holiday.

Oil prices partly rebounded after Tuesday's sharp selloff, with both crude oil and Brent rising more than 1% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-hovers-above-28-a-barrel-as-market-braces-for-more-supply-data-2016-02-10).

Metals prices dropped across the board, while the ICE dollar index inched higher.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2016 06:06 ET (11:06 GMT)