US pre-open: Stocks seen muted ahead of Fed minutes

US futures pointed to a muted open on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors awaited the release of the latest Federal Reserve minutes and looked to a meeting between Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping.

At 1055 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were all flat.

Meanwhile, oil prices rallied after the American Petroleum Institute reported a draw of 1.8m barrels in US crude oil inventories last week, versus expectations of a 435,000 draw. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude were up 1.3% to $51.69 a barrel and $54.86, respectively.

Societe Generale analyst Omair Sharif said the FOMC minutes may be even more closely watched than usual.

"That is because a number of Fed officials (notably Dudley) have very recently commented on balance sheet normalisation, which will lead market participants to scour the Minutes for clues about timing and policy specifics.

"Meanwhile, Fed officials have expressed growing confidence in reaching their 2% inflation target, but it will be important to gauge the degree of confidence with respect to core inflation, as well as whether the Fed is willing to tolerate an overshoot of inflation for some time given that the target is 'symmetric'."

As far as Trump's meeting with Xi goes, TopTradr analyst Tony Cross said: "The summit between Chinese and US premiers that’s due to take place tomorrow and Friday is seen as key in determining where markets will go next. Not only are Trans-Pacific trade ties up for debate, but so is the subject of North Korea, with Trump set to be pushing China for intervention here.

"The latest comments from the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson - that the US has nothing more to say on the matter - certainly ratchets up the pressure although we’re not even seeing any real favouring of risk-off trades as a result. Gold has retreated from recent highs and the waiting game looks set to continue."

In corporate news, drug store operator Walgreen Boots Alliance and seed company Monsanto were among the companies slated to report earnings ahead of the bell.

Elsewhere, US-listed shares of Syngenta could be active after US antitrust officials cleared ChemChina's acquisition of the pesticide group.

On the macroeconomic front, the ADP employment report is at 1315 BST, while Markit's services PMI is at 1445 BST and ISM non-manufacturing is at 1500 BST.