Before the bell:

U.S. stocks were poised for gains Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase reported solid earnings, but cautioned that mortgage losses would continue.

U.S. stocks finished lower Tuesday, with all three major indexes losing about 1%, as a 3% drop in oil prices sparked a sell-off in energy stocks, and Alcoa's sales disappointment weighed down the Dow.
The first major bank to report quarterly results, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) announced a 70% jump in first-quarter net income to $5.6 billion, or $1.28 per share, beating analysts' forecasts for $1.16 per share.
Revenue slipped to $25.8 billion from a year earlier but still edged above analysts' predictions.
Additionally, bankers from the investment banking giant are in line for a 34% raise this year. JPMorgan Chase shares rose 1.5% following the report.
Economy: Census Bureau reported retail sales rose 0.4% in March. The number was slightly lower than the 0.5% increase economists expected, due to rising gas prices. Stripping out gas, retail sales were only up 0.1% for the month.
The latest business inventory numbers will be released at 14:00 GMT from the Census Bureau. Companies are expected to have boosted their inventories by 0.8% in February.
In the afternoon, the Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book.
Companies: Shares of Tyco International (TYC) fell more than 1.8% in premarket trading, after French company Schneider Electric denied reports that it is trying to buy the Swiss manufacturing conglomerate for $30 billion.
World markets:

Oil for May delivery gained 41 cents to $106.66 a barrel.
Gold futures for June delivery rose $7.60 to $1,461.20 an ounce.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 3.53% from 3.50% late Tuesday.