US stock futures slip lower ahead of Fed minutes; Google faces break-up

U.S. stock index futures edged lower Wednesday, following the previous session's gains, ahead of more signals on interest rates from the Federal Reserve. 

At 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT), Dow Jones Futures dropped 42 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures fell 7 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures slipped 40 points, or 0.2%.

The main Wall Street indexes rose on Tuesday, buoyed chiefly by technology stocks, with market darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA ) gaining 4%. 

The broad-based S&P 500 closed 1% higher, the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite surged 1.4%, while the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%.  Fed minutes on tap

Markets were now awaiting more cues on U.S. interest rates, amid growing doubts over the Fed’s plans to cut rates significantly in the coming months.

The minutes of the Fed’s September meeting are due later on Wednesday, while several Fed officials are also set to speak.

Strong payrolls data released last week sparked doubts over just how much impetus the Fed has to keep cutting rates at a fast pace. Traders were seen pricing in an 81.1% chance for a 25 basis point reduction in November, and an 18.9% chance rates will remain unchanged, according to CME Fedwatch .

The Fed cut rates by 50 bps in September and signaled future cuts will still be dependent on inflation and the labor market.

The consumer price index for September is due on Thursday.  Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL ) facing a possible break-up 

Google could be broken up, as the US Department of Justice is mulling possible sanctions against its owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG ), following a landmark antitrust case that found the group guilty of abusing its dominant market position.

The DOJ is "considering behavioral and structural remedies" that would prevent Google from using products like its web browser, app store or operating system to advantage its search business over its competitors, according to a federal court filing on Tuesday. 

"For more than a decade, Google has controlled the most popular distribution channels, leaving rivals with little-to-no incentive to compete for users," the DOJ added.

Elsewhere, global miner Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO ) has agreed to acquire US peer Arcadium Lithium (NYSE:ALTM ) in a $6.7 billion all-cash deal, according to a statement on Wednesday.

Focus this week is also on the start of the third-quarter earnings season, with a string of major banks set to report earnings on Friday.  Crude rebounds ahead of US inventories 

Oil prices rose Wednesday, recouping some of the prior session’s steep losses, although the indication of a large increase in US inventories has limited gains.

By 06:00 ET, the Brent contract climbed 0.8% to $77.83 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 0.8% higher at $74.12 per barrel.

Both contracts slumped more than 4% on Tuesday on disappointment over the lack of new fiscal stimulus measures from top oil importer China. 

Elsewhere, data from the American Petroleum Institute , released on Tuesday, showed US oil inventories grew by 10.9 million barrels in the past week, much more than expectations for an increase of 1.95 million barrels.

Official data from the Energy Information Administration are due later in the session, and could spark concerns that US fuel demand was cooling, especially as the country’s South grapples with a series of devastating hurricanes.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

Source: Investing.com