US pre-open: All eyes on the Fed

US stock futures were looking up before the market opened on Wednesday, ahead of the much anticipated announcement from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open up approximately 83 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both set to begin the session 8 and 21 points higher respectively.

All eyes will be on the FOMC rate decision due out at 1900 GMT. On top of that, the US Housing Starts and Building Permits data is due at 1330 GMT, industrial and manufacturing numbers for November will be released at 1415GMT, and the Markit US Manufacturing PMI will be out at 1445 GMT.

Numbers of applications for US home mortgages fell last week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association out before the bell.

The MBA said its seasonally-adjusted index of application activity, which covers home purchase demand and refinancing demand, fell 1.1% in the week ending 11 December, compared with a 1.2% rise the previous week.

Asia stocks rise ahead of Fed decision

Elsewhere, stocks rose on Asian markets on Wednesday, hours before the Federal Reserve was expected to make the biggest interest rate announcement in almost a decade.

At the end of the trading day, markets were waiting for Janet Yellen's all-important interest rates announcement, where she is expected to confirm the first rise in US interest rates since 2006.

"We do not think the Fed will be distracted by recent US credit-market stress. The bar for the Fed not to hike is sizeable. Market volatility has stayed contained and stocks have remained resilient", said Standard Chartered economists in a research report.

Data from the CME Group showed Federal Reserve fund futures as reflecting an 81% probability of a rate rise after the Fed meeting finishes later on Wednesday.

European stocks rebounded in choppy trade, and oil started to drop again with West Texas Intermediate crude down 0.46% to $37.18, and Brent crude also dropping 2.24% to $37.59 a barrel.

The dollar was down against all the main currencies, rising 0.24% and 0.13% on the pound and euro respectively and up 0.11% against the yen, while spot gold rose 0.38% to $1,065.25.

In company news, CVS Health Corp is expected to open up 2% after it revised up its 2016 adjusted earnings-per-share outlook to between $5.73 and $5.88 from between $5.68 and $5.88.

Chipotle Mexican Grill was also up 0.5% in after hours trading after it said it plans to decrease its use of locally sourced ingredients to try and win back customers scared off by an E.coli outbreak.