Futures are lower

Futures are in the red on Wednesday ahead of another busy day of economic data.

Near 7:56 a.m. ET, Dow futures were down 59 futures (-0.33%), S&P 500 futures were down 6 points (-0.30%) and Nasdaq futures were down 12 points (-0.27%).

Stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, with the Dow finishing down 86 points, or about 0.5%. The Nasdaq eked out the only green finish among the three indexes, up 14 points, or 0.3%.

And not that it says anything about what will happen, but LPL Research pointed out that June has been the weakest month for stocks over the last 10 years.

The big news overnight was that Japan finally delayed its sales tax hike, which puts fiscal reforms on hold as the economy continues to struggle. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the decision was necessary to prevent risks posed by external factors like slowing Chinese growth.

In economic data, auto sales numbers for May will roll in throughout Wednesday. Sales are expected to climb at an annualized pace of 17.30 million, a hair down from the pace of 17.32 million recorded in April.

The Markit and ISM manufacturing reports will also be released at 9:45 and 10 a.m. ET respectively. Virtually all of the regional surveys in May showed that the sector slowed down.

Earlier, the Caixin China manufacturing PMI was unchanged, while Markit Eurozone Manufacturing PMI fell to a three-month low.

Then at 2, the Fed's Beige Book of economic anecdotes from its districts will be released.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its weekly oil-inventories data after the market close. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 1.2% to $48.51 per barrel.

Under Armour shares were down 3% pre-market. The activewear retailer cut its sales guidance on Tuesday following the Sports Authority bankruptcy, and said it expects to take a $23 million impairment charge.

Nike also declined, falling 2.7%.