US pre-open: Futures point to flat open ahead of trade talks

US futures were pointing to a somewhat muted open on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve voted unanimously on Wednesday night to keep policy unchanged and ahead of discussions between the President and his top trade advisors.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow futures were up 0.02%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.05% and 0.09% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 29.58 points higher on Wednesday as market participants digested the latest policy announcement from America's central bank.

Members of Federal Open Market Committee voted to keep the target range for the Fed funds rate at between 1.5-1.75%, as expected, arguing that the decision was "appropriate" in order to sustain the economic expansion and keep inflation near the committee's 2.0% target.

As far as Thursday was concerned, market participants were waiting on Donald Trump to meet with his top trade advisors ahead of Sunday's key deadline with China.

Trump's meeting comes as both sides try to bash out a "phase one" trade deal before Sunday. If an agreement can not reached by then, the White House has vowed to slap $156bn worth of additional levies on Chinese products.

SpreadEx analyst Connor Campbell said: "Reports suggest Trump will be meeting with his top advisors this Thursday, to discuss what exactly the country will do regarding Sunday's scheduled tariff attack on $156bn in Chinese goods.

"The markets are desperate for a 'phase one' deal or, failing that, at least a tariff delay – if Washington does indeed go ahead with the hike, things could be pretty ugly on Monday morning."

On the data front, weekly jobless claims and producer price index data for November will be posted at 1330 GMT.

In corporate news, Adobe, Costco Wholesale and Sears will all report earnings on Thursday.