Investing.com – U.S. futures were flat on Wednesday, as investors wait for the release of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes.
The S&P 500 futures fell 2 points, or 0.10%, to 2,859.0 as of 6:50 AM ET (10:50 GMT) while Dow futures were down 18 points, or 0.07%, to 25,789.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures increased half a point, or 0.01%,to 7,398.0.
The minutes from the Fed’s latest policy meeting come out at 2:00 PM ET (18:00 GMT), which investors will pour over for clues on future monetary policy.
The central bank held interest rates unchanged at its last meeting on August 1, giving an upbeat assessment of the world's biggest economy, as it stays on course to gradually lift interest rates.
Meanwhile trade talks between the U.S. and China begin in Washington on Wednesday, despite comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that no progress will be made. The two largest economies in the world have been in a tit-for-tat tariff war for months and have so far failed to reach a trade agreement.
Retailer Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) was among the top gainers in pre-market trading, surging 6.59% after its earnings came in higher than expected, while Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) rose 0.20%.
Elsewhere technology stocks were down, with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) falling 0.74% and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) inching down 0.16%. Retailer Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) decreased 4.76% after its same-store sales missed estimates.
In economic news, existing home sales for July are released at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT).
In Europe stocks were flat. Germany’s DAX rose 3 points or 0.03% while in France the CAC 40 increased 13 points or 0.24% and in London, the FTSE 100 was up 25 points or 0.34%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 gained 10 points or 0.31% while Spain’s IBEX 35 inched up 4 points or 0.04%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.31% to $1,203.70 a troy ounce while crude oil futures surged 1.34% to $66.72 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.08% to 95.05.