US pre-open: Stocks set for muted start as Fed speakers eyed

US futures pointed to a muted open on Wall Street as investors looked ahead to speeches from Federal Reserve officials.

At 1140 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq futures were flat, while S&P 500 futures were just 0.1% firmer.

Meanwhile, oil prices advanced as investors kept an eye on the OPEC meeting in Algeria, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.6% to $44.93 a barrel and Brent crude up 0.4% to $46.32. Prices were underpinned by data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday showing a surprise fall of 752,000 barrels to 506.4m in the week to 23 September.

IG’s Joshua Mahony said: “The crunch crude talks continue today, as the narrative continues to focus upon a rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Seemingly the Saudis would be willing to take a cut as long as they can restrict the amount of output the Iranians can produce.

“This may have as much to do with limiting the financial capabilities of their adversaries as it does propping up crude prices. In either case, the Iranians seem unwilling to freeze production at anything less than their pre-sanction levels, leaving us at yet another crossroads which will likely end in deadlock.”

In corporate news, Nike was weaker in pre-market trade after it reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit late on Tuesday but weaker-than-forecast future orders.

Mattress company Tempur Sealy International tumbled in pre-market trade after downgrading its guidance for 2016.

Wells Fargo nudged higher after it said late on Tuesday that its head of community banking, Carrie Tolstedt, has left and chief executive John Stumpf will forfeit $41m in bonuses to deal with a scandal over sales practices.

On the data front, MBA mortgage applications are at 1230 BST and durable goods orders are at 1330 BST. Investors will also be eyeing a testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to the financial services committee on Capitol Hill at 1500 BST.

In addition, St Louis Fed President Jim Bullard is due to make opening remarks at the St Louis Fed’s conference on communication banking at 1510 BST.