Futures rise on hopes of more Chinese stimulus steps

China's Ministry of Finance said the government will strengthen fiscal policy, boost infrastructure spending and speed up reform of its tax system, adding to other steps to reenergize sputtering growth.

The Shanghai Composite .SSEC closed 2.3 percent higher and the CSI 300 index .CSI300 rose 1.96 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI was up 4.5 percent.

U.S. stocks closed up more than 2 percent on Tuesday, bouncing after steep losses last week.

The stock market gains were sparked by a rally in Chinese shares on Tuesday, when weaker-than-expected August trade reinforced investors' expectations that Beijing would act to bolster slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Investors will also keep an eye on data scheduled to be released later on Wednesday, including job openings and labor turnover numbers for July. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, are likely to have risen to 5.288 million in July from 5.249 million in the prior month.

Some investors have argued that the recent market volatility will force the U.S. Federal Reserve to wait until the year-end to raise long-term interest rates.

Apple (AAPL.O) shares were up 1 percent at $113.45 premarket. The iPhone maker is expected to unveil new offerings at its annual conference.

Yahoo (YHOO.O) was down 2.9 percent at $30, a day after the U.S. Internal Revenue Service denied its request for a private letter ruling on a possible tax-free deal related to the spinoff of its stake in Alibaba (BABA.N). Alibaba was up 2.2 percent at $62.25.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal)