US pre-open: Equities to nudge higher ahead of Fed announcement

US stocks looked set to nudge higher at the open on Wednesday as investors looked to the latest policy announcement by the Federal Reserve.

At 1110 GMT, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all up 0.2%.

Meanwhile, oil prices rebounded from the previous session’s losses following a surprise drawdown in US inventories and data from the International Energy Agency suggesting OPEC cuts could push the crude market into deficit in time.

West Texas Intermediate was up 2% at $48.69 a barrel and Brent crude was 1.8% higher at $51.85. Prices had slumped on Tuesday after data showed major producer Saudi Arabia has started to increase production.

Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, said: “The main event of the day comes in the form of the latest monetary policy decision from the FOMC, with markets having made their mind up that a rate hike is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

“Should we see the markets proven right, with a 25 basis points hike this evening, the focus will fall heavily on how Yellen prepares the markets for the next nine-months. Given that we could see the first rate hike arrive some three months earlier than previously expected, there is an argument to be had that we could see four rather than three hikes in 2017.”

Ahead of the rate announcement, investors will be bracing for a flurry of economic releases, with retail sales, the consumer price index and NY Empire State manufacturing all at 1230 GMT. Business inventories and the NAHB housing market index are at 1400 GMT.

The FOMC statement is at 1800 GMT, with the press conference due half an hour later.

On the corporate front, shipping company Golden Ocean Group rose sharply in pre-market trade after it said it has successfully completed its $60m share offering.

Twitter shares could be active after at least dozens of prominent accounts were hacked early in the day.

After the closing bell, earnings are due from Oracle Corp, Williams-Sonoma and Guess.