In this Sept. 8, 2015, file photo, a Wall Street street sign is framed by a giant American flag hanging on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday as Asian stock markets rebounded, led by gains in Japan.

Here is where major market index futures stood ahead of the start of regular trading:

Dow: +0.9%

S&P 500: +0.9%

Nasdaq:  +0.9%

Japan's Nikkei 225 index surged 2.7% to close at 17,388.15 after investors were buoyed by expectations for more economic stimulus, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1.6%. The Shanghai composite index gained 0.6%.

Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 4.1%, leaving it in the red for 2015.

Japan’s quarterly Tankan business confidence survey due Thursday will show how businesses are feeling about the future, possibly providing a trigger for action from policymakers.

Investors are waiting for jobs data and clues about when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. On Thursday, U.S. payroll processor ADP reports how many jobs private employers added in September and Fed Chair Janet Yellen will give opening remarks to a community banking conference. Policymakers have said the Fed will likely raise interest rates before the end of the year.

U.S. stocks ended mixed Tuesday as Wall Street staged a partial rebound from Monday’s sharp sell-off that edged the broad U.S. market ever closer to its 2015 lows hit in late August.

Contributing: Associated Press

File photo shows sign at Valeant Pharmaceutical’s headquarters in Montreal, Canada in 2014. (AP/The Canadian Press – Ryan Remiorz)

What a difference calls for congressional subpoenas have made for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International investors.

Shares of the Canada-based drugmaker fell for a second trading session Tuesday, closing down 5.06% at $158.08.

The decline deepened the 16.5% plunge in the company’s stock to $166.50 on Monday following news that Democrats on the House oversight committee are pushing for subpoenas that could force Valeant to turn over documents related to large price hikes for two heart drugs.

The company declined to provide the records earlier this month to Rep. Elijah Cummings, D.-Md. and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I.-Vt. Valeant instead contended records relating to the 525% and 212% price increases imposed the day it acquired rights to the medications were proprietary and confidential.

Cummings, the ranking minority member on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, joined other Democrats on the panel Monday in asking committee chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah to authorize a subpoena. They also asked Chaffetz to call a hearing that would include testimony from Valeant CEO Michael Pearson.

There’s been no official action on the requests.

In the meantime, Valeant’s falling stock price has been bad news — at least temporarily — for major investors such as activist investor William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management. The New York-based hedge fund holds more than 19 million shares of Valeant, roughly a 5.64% stake, according to investment research firm Morningstar.

The Microsoft sign outside the headquarters campus in Redmond, Wash.

Microsoft (MSFT) was up 0.37% on news of a new, more transparent reporting structure that breaks out the company's commercial cloud business.

The new structure divides the company into three core operating segments; productivity and business processes, intelligent cloud and personal computing.

According to an analysis by investment bank FBR & Co., "we believe Microsoft’s laser-focus on software versus hardware with a massive product cycle leaves it well positioned to enter the 'golden age' of cloud computing with Windows 10 as a major potential catalyst."

The announcement was a follow-on to a memo CEO Satya Nadella sent to employees in July.

The news comes ahead of Microsoft's earnings, due out Oct. 22. The announcement was made on a conference call with analysts Monday.

Trader Joseph Murray works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. U.S. stocks are opening solidly higher as investors take their cue from big gains in Asia and Europe. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) ORG XMIT: NYRD102

Shares of Zosano Pharma (ZSAN) lost a third of its value Tuesday after late Monday disclosing its will halt development of its treatment for severe osteoporosis.

Zosano shares dropped $2.05, or 33%, to $4.27 on the news, made worse by the company’s disclosure that Eli Lilly will end its collaboration with the company. That’s a huge disappointment since some investors speculated Lilly would consider buying stock in Zosano.

The rapid collapse in Zosano shares has been breathtaking even by biotech standards. The stock was offered to initial public investors in January 2015 at $11 a share. That means these early investors are now down 61% on their investments in just 9 months.

Ouch.