US pre-open: Futures in the green ahead of FOMC minutes

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Wednesday as market participants looked ahead to some key data points later in the session.

As of 1215 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.25%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.36% and 0.56% higher, respectively.

The Dow closed 10.88 points lower on Tuesday as major indices struggled for direction on the first trading day of the new year.

Positive inflation data out of Europe was boosting sentiment prior to the open, including a better-than-expected fall in France's consumer price index and a decline in import prices in Germany.

However, Wednesday's primary foci will be the release of minutes from the FOMC's latest meeting, with investors set to thumb through the notes for any hints of the central bank's future moves, and last month's manufacturing PMI from the Institute for Supply Management.

AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "US and European futures are trading steadily after being punished yesterday mainly due to Tesla's stock price sell-off. Today is an important day for market players as two important economic events will be unfolding, which traders will be watching very closely.

"Overall, the month of January is in for a rocky start, and fundamentals that drove the price action last year are still very much calling the shots for the price action. If we continue to see another few days of sell-off, the US stock indices may revisit the lows that they formed last year."

On the macro front, mortgage applications fell 10.3% to a 27-year low in the week ended 30 December, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, driven by a 12% crash in the purchase index and a 4.4% drop in refinancing applications.

Still to come, the ISM's December manufacturing PMI will be published at 1500 GMT, as will November JOLTs job data, while minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting will follow at 1900 GMT.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Wednesday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com