Futures are surging

Stock futures are sharply higher on Wednesday morning.

Near 7:23 a.m. ET, Dow futures were up 189 points, S&P 500 futures were up 24 points, and Nasdaq futures were up 56 points - all up more than 1%.

Finviz

These strong gains come at the end of a brutal quarter and month. Based on Tuesday's closing prices, the major indexes are down about 9% for the third quarter, the weakest performance since 2011. For September, the S&P 500 is down 4%.

Global equity markets were also rallying on Wednesday; European indexes including the FTSE 100 and CAC 40 were up more than 2%, while China's Shanghai composite was up only about 0.5%.

Many Federal Reserve members are speaking today, including chair Janet Yellen and the St. Louis Fed's James Bullard at the annual community banking conference.

In economic data, ADP nonfarm payrolls are due at 8:15 a.m. ET, followed by Chicago PMI at 9:45, and crude oil inventories at 10:30. Official Chinese manufacturing and services PMIs are due at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Shares of Ralph Lauren rallied 6% in premarket trading following the news Tuesday that the company's eponymous CEO was stepping down.