US pre-open: Stocks seen touch higher ahead of FOMC minutes

US futures pointed to a marginally higher open on Wall Street, where investors will be shifting their attention to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting.

At 1205 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were 0.2% firmer.

At the same time, oil prices were in the black after the Kuwaiti governor for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Nawal Al-Fuzaia, expressed confidence that both OPEC and non-OPEC members will go ahead with plans to cut crude output at the upcoming meeting in Qatar.

West Texas Intermediate was up 3% to $36.96 a barrel and Brent crude was 2.4% higher at $38.78.

Traders will be paying particular attention to the Fed minutes after Chair Janet Yellen said in a speech last week that rate rises will be gradual, quashing market speculation of an April hike.

After Yellen’s speech, however, comments from Fed officials James Bullard, Dennis Lockhart and John Williams were a lot more hawkish in tone.

“It will be interesting to see from the minutes whether any consensus on a hike was even close or if they’re as far away from a hike as they appear from their public comments," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

"While these minutes are dated to an extent, with the meeting now having taken place around three weeks ago, they should still offer valuable insight on the path of rates this year and what could speed this up or apply the breaks even harder.”

“The problem we now have is that with a rate hike not being priced in until December – and even then only 54% chance of a hike based on Fed Funds futures – the markets have left themselves exposed to potential shocks should the minutes indicate a need for a hike in the upcoming meetings, in order to avoid raising too fast further down the road.”

On the corporate front, Pfizer and Allergan were likely to be in focus after Pfizer confirmed on Wednesday that the merger agreement between the two has been terminated by mutual agreement after the US Treasury announced new measures to curb tax inversions.

In connection with the termination of the merger agreement, Pfizer has agreed to pay Allergan $150m for reimbursement of expenses associated with the transaction.

In currencies, the dollar was 0.6% higher versus the pound, 0.3% firmer against the euro and flat versus the yen.