Stock futures rebounded Wednesday, as central banks responded to the global credit crunch.

The Bank of Canada cut its key rate by a quarter-point to 4.25% on Tuesday. The Reserve Bank of Australia didn’t cut interest rates, but it did sound a more dovish tone.

The Bank of England and the European Central Bank will make rate decisions on Thursday, with the BoE under increasing pressure to cut rates after data showed measures of house prices, consumer confidence and services sector falling.

The U.S. Federal Reserve could consider a half-point rate cut next week, though expectations vary on the Fed’s next move.

The Canadian dollar is continuing to fall after Tuesday’s interest rate cut. The loonie opened at US98.09¢ this morning, down more than two-thirds of a cent.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s national wealth in net fixed assets — as measured by the total value of all its non residential buildings, engineering structures and machinery and equipment –increased by 22% between 1997 and 2007, largely the result of strong investment by the nation’s mining and oil and gas extraction industries.

South of the border, markets are awaiting data on October pending home sales and factory orders as well as the Institute of Supply Management’s nonmanufacturing sentiment poll for November.

Crude-oil futures rose sharply Wednesday, with reports from Abu Dhabi indicating OPEC isn’t increasing production, but will meet next month.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery added US$1.61 to US$89.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Europe.

U.S. weekly energy inventory figures will be released later today.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 rose 1.2% in London, while the Nikkei 225 added 0.8% in Tokyo.

Toronto stocks finished lower on Tuesday as financial issues were hit by more worries over the health of the U.S. economy.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 77.55 points, or 0.57%, at 13,579.62.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 22.96 points, or 0.84%, to finish at 2,694.44.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 65.84 points, or 0.49%, at 13,248.73. The S&P 500 dropped 9.63 points, or 0.65%, to 1,462.79. The Nasdaq composite index closed off 17.30 points, or 0.66%, at 2,619.83.