NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Trading volume is expected to surge when U.S. financial markets reopen Wednesday, two days after Superstorm Sandy prompted an unexpected shutdown on Wall Street.

Throughout much of the month, an average of 3.5 billion shares have been exchanging hands each day, but experts say that could double on Wednesday.

" It's hard to say which direction stocks will move, but we're expecting to see a whole lot of trading volume -- three days worth of trading all in one," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co.

Wednesday will be particularly busy for investors since it also happens to be the last day of the month, a time when traders, hedge funds and mutual funds often square up their positions.

And for some, the day also marks the last day of the fiscal year. It's a day when many mutual fund managers will try to offset their capital gains with their losses to minimize the distributions paid out to shareholders, said Dickson.

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Home improvement stocks like Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500) and Lowe's (LOW, Fortune 500) will likely be big movers, as well as insurance stocks, such as Allstate (ALL, Fortune 500), AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) and Hartford Financial (HIG, Fortune 500). Retailers, airlines and hotels that have been affected by the storm will also be in focus.

Wednesday also marks the first day investors have to react to non-storm related news.

Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) kicked off the week with a management shake-up, announcing that two of its top executives had been shown the door. Scott Forstall -- responsible for the iOS software running iPhones and iPads, and often considered an heir-in-waiting to CEO Tim Cook -- is the most prominent executive departing Apple.

Late Tuesday, the Walt Disney Company (DIS, Fortune 500) agreed to buy Lucasfilm in a stock-and-cash deal valued at $4 billion, gaining control of the blockbuster Star Wars franchise.

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Also, many Facebook (FB) employees will finally get a chance to sell their shares for the first time, after a lock-up on their so called " restricted stock units" expired. With the market finally open, a total of 234 million Faebook shares will be newly eligible for sale Wednesday.

The storm also prompted many companies to postpone their quarterly earnings reports, but others, including Ford (F, Fortune 500), Archer Daniels Midland (ADM, Fortune 500) and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (AMTD) still issued their results so those stocks may be active Wednesday.

Hertz (HTZ, Fortune 500), Mastercard (MA, Fortune 500), Visa (V, Fortune 500), First Solar (FSLR) and Metlife (MET, Fortune 500) are among the firms on tap to post results Wednesday.

While investors will have quite a bit of corporate news to get through, economic data that has come out over the last two days in the United States or abroad hasn't been " earth-shattering," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel.

But investors will also be gearing up for the crucial October jobs report, which is scheduled to come out Friday. It will be the final reading on the health of the job market before the presidential election next week. While there has been some concern about the report being delayed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says it is working hard to stay on schedule.

Germany's Constitutional Court dismissed complaints on the legality of the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent bailout fund that's expected to have a maximum lending capacity of €500 billion.

Markets around the world initially rose on the news, but European stocks turned mixed in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.1%, while the DAX in Germany jumped 1.9% and France's CAC 40 rose 1.2%.

Asian markets, which closed ahead of the German court decision, ended higher.

Investors were anxious about how the ruling would impact the European Central Bank's plans to preserve the euro, which remained at its highest level against the U.S. dollar in four months early Wednesday.

" This is good news for the EU and has certainly been reflected in the value of the euro across the board," said Chris Towner, director of foreign exchange advisory services at HiFX. " This gives a foundation for the EU leaders to start to put a proper framework in place for further integration."

As stocks around the globe reacted, investors bailed out of U.S. Treasuries, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year note up to 1.74% from 1.69% late Tuesday.

In corporate news, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) is expected to unveil the iPhone 5 at an event later Wednesday . Shares of the company were higher as investors awaited the announcement.

U.S. stocks advanced Tuesday, rebounding from the previous day's pullback.

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Economy: Government reports are due Wednesday on import and export prices for August and on wholesale inventories for July.

Companies: Facebook (FB) shares rose 4% in premarket trading, a day after CEO Mark Zuckerberg made his first public interview since the company's IPO. Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, Zuckerberg said he was disappointed by the stock's performance and pledged to stick to Facebook's mission.

Chesapeake Energy (CHK, Fortune 500)agreed to sell most of its properties in the Permian Basin in West Texas for roughly $6.9 billion, sending shares up nearly 4% in premarket trading. The oil company will sell the Delaware Basin portion to Royal Dutch Shell in a deal valued just below $2 billion. Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and Global Infrastructure Partners will also buy portions of the acreage.

Commodities: Oil for October delivery rose 24 cents to $97.41 a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery gained $10.50 to $1,745.40 an ounce.

First Published: September 12, 2012: 5:12 AM ET

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) slid 12 points, or 0.4%, to end at 13,060. The S& P 500 (SPX) eased 1 point, or 0.1%, to 1,398. The Nasdaq (COMP) rose 13 points, or 0.4%, to 3,080.

Traders said volumes were low Thursday with many market participants absent ahead of the holiday. U.S. markets will be closed Friday in observance of Good Friday, and bond markets will close early.

The Dow and S& P 500 both fell for a third day, ending the four day week lower. Despite modest gains on Thursday, the Nasdaq also ended the week down. All three indexes suffered the largest weekly decline of 2012.

Stocks opened lower Thursday as investors continued to digest Wednesday's lackluster auction of Spanish government bonds. The yield on 10-year Spanish bonds jumped to 5.8% Thursday amid worries about the government's budget deficit.

" Credit concerns are flaring given the rise in Spanish bond yields," said Nick Kalivas, market strategist at Hadrian Partners. " It feels like the sovereign debt crisis is surfacing again."

In addition, investors have been sidelined this week by concerns the Federal Reserve may not launch a third round of quantitative easing when the current program, known as Operation Twist, ends in June.

" Traders may soon be forced to operate without a safety net for the first time since the 2008 collapse," said Karl Schamotta, senior market strategist Western Union Business Solutions. " The implications will be profound."

Meanwhile, the U.S. job market has been in focus this week ahead of Friday's report on hiring and unemployment from the Labor Department. Two reports released Thursday pointed to continued improvement in the labor market.

Stocks fell  Wednesday after minutes from the Fed's latest policy meeting dashed hopes for additional stimulus from the central bank.

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Meanwhile, demand for U.S. Treasuries rebounded Thursday after prices fell sharply earlier in the week, said Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income analyst at Janney Capital Markets. But the gains came on low volume ahead of Friday's holiday.

" The combination of the impending Good Friday holiday, prevalence of school spring breaks this week, and the start of the Masters Golf tournament Wednesday afternoon all conspired to keep volumes low," LeBas said.

Economy:  Initial  jobless claims  for the week ended March 31 totaled 357,000, the government reported before Thursday's opening bell, compared with analyst expectations of 355,000.

Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said planned job cuts declined to roughly 38,000 in March, the lowest since May of last year.

On Friday, the Labor Department will release the latest update on job growth and the unemployment rate.

Economists surveyed by CNNMoney expect that report to show employers added 200,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate fell to 8.2%. In February, the  economy added 227,000 jobs.

World markets:  European stocks ended mixed. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) added 0.3% and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) rose 0.2%, but the DAX (DAX) in Germany lost 0.1%.

In a widely expected move, the Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted to hold interest rates at 0.5% and maintain the size of its 325 billion pound asset-purchasing program.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund said Portugal has made " good progress" on its economic reform program and approved the disbursement of €5.2 billion in bailout funds.

Asian markets ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei (N225) slid 0.5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng (HSI) fell 1%, while the Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) rose 1.7%.

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Companies: Shares of wine company Constellation Brands (STZ) fell after the company reported a drop in revenue and weak guidance for the upcoming fiscal year.

Pier 1 Imports (PIR) and Carmax (KMX,  Fortune 500) reported earnings and revenue roughly in line with analyst expectations.

Macy's (M,  Fortune 500) shares rose after the company reported that its same-store sales for the month of March had increased 7%. Fellow retailer Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY,  Fortune 500) gained after announcing a 7% increase in quarterly same-store sales.

Clothing sellers Gap Inc (GPS,  Fortune 500) and TJX Companies Inc (TJX,  Fortune 500) were up on strong same-store sales.

Costco (COST,  Fortune 500)'s March same-store sales in the U.S. increased by 6%. Limited (LTD,  Fortune 500) said March same-store sales increased 8%.

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Currencies  and  commodities:  The dollar gained against the euro and British pound, but slipped against the Japanese yen.

Oil for May delivery rose $1.84 to end the day at $103.31 a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery rose $16.20 to settle at $1,628.50 an ounce.

Bonds:  The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 2.19% from 2.23% late Wednesday. 

Some investors had been hoping the Fed would move toward another round of  quantitative easing, a prospect that now appears dim following Tuesday's release of minutes from last month's meeting.

" It certainly has taken people by surprise," said Chris Beauchamp, an analyst at IG Markets in the United Kingdom. " Markets don't like living in a world where they don't have an active Fed to support them."

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S& P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were down ahead of the opening bell. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Investors will have a healthy amount of economic data to chew on Wednesday morning, with reports on the labor market, crude inventories and growth in the non-manufacturing sector on tap.

U.S. stocks  closed lower Tuesday, with momentum stalling after the Fed minutes were released.

Looking ahead, attention will focus to the jobs report for March, which is due out Friday. However, U.S. markets will be closed in observance of Good Friday and bond markets will close early.

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Economy:  Analysts expect that private-sector employers added 217,000 workers in March. The latest data from payroll processing firm ADP will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET.

Reports on ISM Services and crude oil inventories will be released mid-morning.

World markets:  European stocks were lower in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) dropped 1.1%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany fell 1.7%, and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) shed 1.3%.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei (N225) tumbled 2.3%. Markets in Hong Kong and China were closed for the Tomb Sweeping holiday.

Companies: Rating agency Moody's announced Wednesday that it had downgraded the debt of General Electric (GE,  Fortune 500) due to risks associated with its finance subsidiary, GE Capital Corporation.

Before the opening bell, agricultural biotech firm Monsanto reports results, while retailer Bed Bath & Beyond reports after the close.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Monsanto (MON,Fortune 500) to report earnings of $2.12 per share on $4.5 billion in revenue.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBY,  Fortune 500) is expected to report quarterly results after the market close that show earnings per share of $1.33 per share on $2.7 billion in revenue.

Burger King announced Tuesday that it planned to re-list on the New York Stock Exchange within 90 days after a deal in which its owners sold 29% of the company to a U.K. investment fund.

IBM (IBM,  Fortune 500) fell 1.5% and cruise ship operator Carnival Corp (CCL) eased 2.1% on reports of analyst downgrades.

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Currencies  and  commodities:  The dollar gained against the euro and the British pound, but fell against the Japanese yen.

Oil for May delivery slipped 68 cents to $103.33 a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery fell $35.20 to $1,634.80 an ounce.

Bonds:  The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 2.24%.