Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were pointing to a slightly lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday, ahead of a likely interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at the conclusion of its latest meeting later in the day.
By 6:55 AM ET, Dow futures were down 26 points or 0.1%, while S&P 500 Futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were also a touch lower.
Stocks closed firmly in positive territory on Tuesday after being mixed for much of the session. The S&P 500 is less than 1% short of its record high close on July 26.
Some strong U.S. economic data has dampened expectations for a rate cut in recent days, but the Fed is still widely expected to lower rates by 25 basis points.
It would be its second rate cut in less than two months amid concerns over the fallout from the trade war with China and slowing global growth.
Investors will also wait for clues on how far the U.S. monetary policy easing would go, given that Fed policymakers are divided on whether more rate cuts are warranted.
"Its going to be difficult for them to signal an extremely dovish tone, given they are already half divided at this point," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Markets watchers will also receive an update on the housing market in the form of building permit and housing starts data at 8:30 AM ET.
Outside of equities, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, was up 0.2% at 98.02 while the yield on the 10-year Treasury slid to 1.7%.
In commodities, gold futures were down $4.55, or 0.3%, at $1,508.85 a troy ounce, while crude oil was down 34 cents, or 0.6%, to $58.76 a barrel after Saudi Arabia said it will restore lost production by the end of September. Brent was down 0.4% at $64.34 a barrel.
--Reuters contributed to this report