U.S. stock futures point to muted open as earnings, Fed minutes loom

Stock -futures indexes implied a steady but modestly higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, as investors await the unofficial start to the corporate-earnings season with Alcoa Inc. due to report later.

Traders also will be anticipating the release of the latest minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which could offer more signs of the U.S. central banks stance on the pace of rate increases.

BP PLC was among the premarket gainers after a mega oil deal was announced in London, while investors also looked ahead to the latest minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMM5, +0.05% rose 13 points to 17,798, while those for the S&P 500 index ESM5, +0.07% added 1.45 points to 2,069.2. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index NQM5, +0.07% inched up 4.5 points to 4,338.2.

“Last night New York seemed to start to get the message that limited growth prospects, resulting in interest rate hikes remaining on hold, may call a halt to a sustained stock-market rally, especially if this quarter’s earnings, which start tonight with Alcoa’s results, are not that stellar,” said David Buik, market commentator at Panmure Gordon & Co., in a note.