By Caitlin Ostroff

U.S. stock futures edged higher Wednesday as investors assessed the potential for additional fiscal spending in coming weeks after President Trump appeared to soften his earlier stance regarding offering support to American households, airlines and small businesses.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 ticked up 0.6%, suggesting that the broad market gauge could gain after the New York opening bell.

The market fell sharply Tuesday after Mr. Trump dashed hopes for a new economic relief package before the November election: he tweeted that he had told his representatives to end negotiations with Democrats over the coronavirus-aid spending.

Just hours later, the president seemed set to shift course. He said in a series of overnight tweets that he was "ready to sign right now" if he was sent a stand-alone bill for sending $1,200 checks to Americans. He also urged lawmakers to approve a $25 billion package to support airlines' payrolls, and another $135 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, aimed at helping small businesses.

"Walking back from the earlier tweet was pretty notable," said James McCormick, a strategist at NatWest Markets. "It has people thinking he'll do some targeted stimulus."

In premarket trading, shares in United Airlines rose 3.8% and Delta Air Lines gained 3.7% following Mr. Trump's tweet about support for airlines. Shares in RPM International rose 2.6% after the maker of building materials reported that profit and sales for the August quarter rose.

Investors for some weeks have been skeptical that Democrats, the White House and Republicans would be able to bridge their differences over a broad fiscal spending plan before Nov. 3. Many are continuing to wager that the next sweeping round of stimulus will be forthcoming only in the new year, if there is a decisive electoral victory for one of the two major parties.

"The market's base case is that we're going to get some stimulus postelection," said Michael Bell, a global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. "In many ways, a clear election result which leads to some stimulus -- whether it's Republican-led or Democrat-led -- is better than an unclear result which leads to continued lack of stimulus."

Investors meanwhile are likely to look ahead to the first vice presidential debate, scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET, for further cues on how the election may play out. Polls so far have indicated that Democratic nominee Joe Biden has a widening lead over Mr. Trump following the first debate between the two candidates, but that was before the president disclosed that he has coronavirus.

Mr. Trump's illness has added to the confusion and uncertainty in the home stretch of the 2020 campaign, raising questions about the Senate's ability to proceed with a contentious Supreme Court confirmation process and new bills for government aid to businesses.

On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned of potentially tragic economic consequences if additional support isn't provided to businesses and households.

Investors will look for further insights on Fed policy makers' views on how best to support the economy when minutes from the September meeting are released at 2 p.m.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 0.778%. Expectations that interest rates will be kept low have left U.S. government-bond yields rangebound in recent weeks. But the yield closed at 0.760% -- its highest level since June -- on Monday, lifted by mounting hopes for a new fiscal stimulus deal, before settling down at 0.741% Tuesday.

Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.1%.

In Asia, stock markets were mixed at the close of trading. Japan's Nikkei 225 was largely flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.1%. Chinese markets on the mainland remained closed for a holiday.

Brent crude, the international energy benchmark, fell 2.5% to $41.60 a barrel. Gold ticked down 1%.

--Jem Bartholomew contributed to this article.

Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-07-20 0807ET