US pre-open: Futures mixed ahead of FOMC minutes

Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the bell on Wednesday as market participants awaited the release of minutes from the Fed's latest policy meeting later in the day.

As of 1215 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.12%, while S&P 500 futures pointed to a 0.02% drop at the open and Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.14% higher.

The Dow Jones closed 282.12 points lower on Tuesday after the Census Bureau said retail sales had fallen 1.1% in June.

Wednesday's primary focus will be the minutes from the FOMC's policy meeting back in July, scheduled for release at 1900 BST, with investors looking out for any hints as to when the central bank will start dialling back its bond buying programme amid growing support within the Fed to announce tapering in September.

CMC Markets' Michael Hewson said: "It would be surprising if today’s minutes altered the market perception of when a taper is likely to happen given the more recent commentary of various Fed policymakers, in light of the recent improvements in the US jobs data, which wasn’t available to members back in July.

"It is clear from recent comments from the likes of permanent board members Christopher Waller, as well as vice chair Richard Clarida that the Fed is now much nearer to tapering now than it has been for some time and that it could come as soon as October, jobs data permitting."

Ahead of the bell, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was trading flat at around 1.27%.

On the macro front, mortgage applications fell 3.9% week-on-week in the seven days ended 13 August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, principally due to a 5.3% decrease in refinancing applications as the average contract interest rate for traditional 30-year mortgages inched up to 3.06% from 2.99%.

Still to come, building permits and housing starts data will be released at 1330 BST.

In the corporate space, Target earnings topped estimates, leading the retailer to raise its full-year forecasts, while competitor Lowe's also beat estimates thanks to home professionals helping drive growth.

Cisco Systems, Nvidia and Robinhood will all report quarterly earnings after the close.