On Wednesday, American stock index futures managed to rise, as investors eagerly awaited the Congressional testimony from Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman, which is expected to provide hints into the US central bank's thoughts on the economy.

Mr. Bernanke will be providing semi-annual testimony on monetary policy and the economic condition before the U. S. House Financial Services Committee. Investors are currently busy wondering if the sudden rise in the discount rate last week could be a precursor to a hike in the interest rates as well.

Dave Rovelli, a trader at Canaccord Adams in New York, has shared that investors are concerned that a stop to the Fed purchases of Mortgage-Backed Securities might end up pushing mortgage rates up and be detrimental to a recovery in the housing market.

"They want to see how he's going to go on ending his MBS buyback and what's his view on the discount rate", he said.

S&P 500 futures gained 1.4 points and the Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 15 point, and NASDAQ 100 futures added 4.5 points.