Futures Creep Up Ahead of Fed Word

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in Wednesday's early pre-market trade.

Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones gained 29 points, or 0.2%, to 17,485, futures for the S&P 500 added 3.25 points, or 0.2%, to 2,052.25, and futures for the NASDAQ put on 10.5 points, or 0.2%, to 4,580.

Reports from Target, Lowe's and Staples are due this morning. Struggling coffee maker company Keurig is among the companies expected to report after the market closes.

Analysts at Mizuho Securities downgraded Citrix Systems, Inc. from buy to neutral and lowered the price target from $90.00 to $80.00 U.S. Citrix Systems shares fell 3.1% to $76.00 U.S. in pre-market trading.

ON Semiconductor Corp and Fairchild Semiconductor Intl today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for ON Semiconductor to acquire Fairchild for $20.00 per share in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $2.4 billion U.S.

VimpelCom Ltd. today announced that its 51.9%-owned subsidiary, Global Telecom Holding S.A.E., has entered into an agreement with ZARNet Limited to sell its stake in Telecel International Limited for $40 million U.S.

At 2 p.m. ET, the Federal Reserve will post the minutes from its meeting in October, possibly the last before the first hike in interest rates in nearly a decade. The next policy meeting begins Dec. 15, and investors are betting that the Fed will finally announce a rate hike unless there's concerning economic news before then.

Still, the minutes will be scrutinized for the Fed's view on global risks, and for any clues on what will happen beyond the December meeting.

Before the Fed minutes, October's home construction report is due from the Census Bureau this morning. Later this morning, expect the U.S. government's weekly crude oil inventories report to post at 10:30 a.m. ET.

European markets were lower today, with the German DAX 30 index dropping 0.6%. French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.8% and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.3%

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei index rose 0.1% Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.3%, China's CSI 300 Composite index fell 1.1%

Oil prices rose 25 cents to $40.92 U.S. a barrel

Gold prices dropped $1.90 to $1,068.40 U.S. an ounce.