Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher open on Wednesday morning, as investors looked ahead to minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting for further hints on the timing of the next U.S. rate hike.
The blue-chip Dow futures rose 52 points, or about 0.2%, by 6:55AM ET (1055GMT), the S&P 500 futures gained 6 points, or around 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures added 18 points, or roughly 0.3%.
U.S. stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, with the Dow ending slightly higher for a third straight session, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both finished with small losses.
The Fed will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting at 2:00PM ET (1800GMT). The central bank left interest rates unchanged following its meeting on July 26 and said it expected to start shrinking its massive holdings of bonds "relatively soon".
Market players will also pay attention to data on housing starts and building permits at 8:30AM ET (1230GMT) to gauge the strength of the world's largest economy and how it will impact the Fed's view on monetary policy.
Futures traders are pricing in about a 50% chance of a rate hike by December, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Among active pre-market movers, Target (NYSE:TGT) saw shares gain around 5% after the chain store retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly results ahead of the opening bell and provided upbeat annual guidance.
Besides Target, earnings are also expected from Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), L Brands (NYSE:LB) and NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP).
Shares in Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) looked set for a strong day of gains, soaring around 22% in premarket action, after reporting second quarter earnings that easily topped expectations late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares retreated 1% after President Donald Trump criticized the company for hurting retailers and towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. in a tweet earlier.
Looking to commodities, oil prices posted mild gains as investors looked ahead to the Energy Department's weekly supply report at 10:30AM ET (1430GMT).
U.S. crude was at $47.70 a barrel, up 15 cents, or around 0.3%, while Brent rose 19 cents to $50.99.