BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The FOMC meeting will be the highlight on Wednesday. The Fed Chair press conference will be held at 2.30 pm ET. The federal funds rate is expected at 1.875 percent.
The Housing Starts data is also a major announcement on the day.
Asian shares finished mixed, while European shares are trading down.
Early signs from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open slightly negative.
As of 8.10 am ET, the Dow futures were down 35.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were losing 5.25 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were declining 18.25 points.
The U.S. major stocks ended in positive territory on Tuesday. The Dow inched up 33.98 points or 0.1 percent to 27,110.80, the Nasdaq climbed 32.47 points or 0.4 percent to 8,186.02 and the S&P 500 rose 7.74 points or 0.3 percent to 3,005.70.
On the economic front, the Commerce and the Housing & Urban Development's Housing Starts data for August will be published at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 1.251 million, up from 1.191 million in the prior month. Permit level is expected to decline slightly to 1.300 million from 1.336 million in t he previous month.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Petroleum Status Report for the week will be published at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were down 6.9 million barrels. and gasoline inventories were down 0.7 million barrels.
The FOMC meeting announcement will be held at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus for Federal Funds Rate is 1.875 percent, compared to the previous range of 2.00 to 2.25 percent. Fed Chair press conference will be held at 2.30 am ET.
Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday. Chinese shares rose ahead. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended up 7.54 points, or 0.25 percent, at 2,985.66 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed down 0.13 percent at 26,754.12.
Japanese shares fell slightly. The Nikkei average ended down 0.18 percent at 21,960.71, while the broader Topix index closed 0.49 percent lower at 1,606.62.
Australian markets ended modestly lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 13.70 points, or 0.20 percent, to 6,681.60. The broader All Ordinaries index ended down 10.50 points, or 0.15 percent, at 6,791.20.
European shares are progressing higher. France's CAC 40 is climbing 8.95 points or 0.16 percent. Germany's DAX is up 16.07 points or 0.13 percent. FTSE 100 of U.K. is adding 5.02 points or 0.07 percent. Swiss Market Index is up 0.63 points or 0.01 percent.
Eurozone's leading Blue Chip index,Euro Stoxx 50, is progressing 0.14 percent.
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