Investing.com - U.S. stock markets pointed to a muted open on Wednesday morning, as investors awaited fresh signals about the timing of the next U.S. interest rate hike.
The blue-chip Dow futures tacked on 3 points by 6:30AM ET (10:30GMT), the S&P 500 futures dipped 2 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures declined 4 points.
U.S. stocks ended mostly flat on Tuesday as investors held off from making big bets ahead of an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Federal Reserve will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting on Wednesday at 2:00PM ET (18:00GMT). The U.S. central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points following its meeting on March 15 and stuck to its projection for two more hikes this year.
Besides the Fed minutes, Wednesday' calendar also features the ADP private sector nonfarm payrolls report at 8:15AM ET (12:15GMT) and the ISM non-manufacturing survey at 10AM ET.
Market experts do not expect the Fed to raise interest rates again until June, especially in light of recent softening data.
The U.S. dollar index was little changed at 100.43 in New York morning trade, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield held steady at 2.36%.
Meanwhile, market players are awaiting President Donald Trump's first meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday.
Last week, Trump tweeted that the meeting, which is expected to cover differences over trade, currencies and North Korea, "will be a very difficult one."
North Korea fired a ballistic missile early on Wednesday from its east coast into the sea off the Peninsula, South Korea's military said, ahead of the Trump-Xi summit.
Among active pre-market movers, Panera Bread (NASDAQ:PNRA) saw shares jump almost 13% ahead of the opening bell after JAB Holdings said it would buy the U.S. bakery chain in an all-cash deal valued at about $7.5 billion.
In other markets, European stocks were mixed in choppy mid-morning trade, with Germany's DAX down 0.3%, while London's FTSE 100 added 0.2%.
Earlier, in Asia, markets ended mostly in positive territory, with the Shanghai Composite in China closing up around 1.5%, while Japan's Nikkei rose around 0.3%.
Elsewhere, U.S. oil rose for a second consecutive session on Wednesday to its highest level in around a month, as investors looked ahead to the Energy Department's weekly supply report at 10:30AM ET.