US pre-open: Stocks set for flat open after Tuesday's fresh records

US futures pointed to a broadly flat open on Wall Street, with investors set to pause for breath after the Dow and the S&P 500 hit fresh records in the previous session.

At 1115 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up just 0.1%.

“US stocks look set for a flat open on profit-taking after the Dow Jones Industrial Average touched new record highs before the release of the Fed’s Beige book,” said Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets.

At the same time, oil prices retreated after racking up strong gains on Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate was down 1.4% at $46.17 a barrel and Brent crude was 1.7% weaker at $47.64. Data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday also weighed on prices, after it showed US crude inventories rose by 2.2m barrels in the week to July 8 to 523.1m, versus analysts' expectations for a 3m barrel drop.

In corporate news, drug maker Juno Therapeutics surged in pre-market trade after saying it will resume a drug trial of a potential leukemia treatment that had been placed on clinical hold last week after patient deaths.

On the downside, SemiLEDS Corp tumbled after saying late on Tuesday that third-quarter revenue dropped 18% and losses widened to $3.3m.

Yum Brands is due to report earnings after the closing bell.

On the macroeconomic calendar, the US import price index is at 1330 BST and the Fed’s Beige Book is at 1900 BST. CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said the Beige Book “could well reinforce that sentiment and in so doing start to shift the dial in terms of the timing of a potential US rate rise”.

“Previous surveys have pointed to a fairly optimistic outlook albeit concerns in patches with respect to wage growth. While a July and September rate rise would seem out of the question given current global concerns a decent survey won’t deter some Fed members from rattling the prospect of a rise in rates, even if they know they won’t be able to deliver one.”