US pre-open: Futures in the green as FOMC minutes remain in focus

Wall Street futures had stocks opening higher ahead of the bell on Friday as market participants continued to weigh the chances of a more aggressive stance against inflation by the Federal Reserve.

As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.38%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.33% and 0.36% higher, respectively.

The Dow closed 87.06 points higher on Thursday, clawing back some of the losses recorded in the previous session as investors mulled over the Fed's latest meeting minutes and data showing a tighter-than-expected jobs market.

Comments from the central bank at its March meeting were still in focus ahead of the bell, with the minutes revealing that policymakers planned to cut their bond holdings by a consensus amount of about $95.0bn per month and also indicating potential interest rate hikes of 50 basis points in future meetings.

Also drawing an amount of investor attention was news that at least 30 people had been killed and more than 100 wounded following a rocket attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, according to the state railway company. Ukrainian officials laid the blame on Russia for the attack, stating it took place as civilians were attempting to evacuate to safer parts of the country. Russia has denied any involvement in the strike.

On the macro front, February's wholesale inventories report will be published at 1500 BST.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday but traders were looking ahead to earnings season, which will kick off next week, with reports from JPMorgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo all due to report before the week is out.