S&P 500 futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors awaited the release of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes for insights into when the central bank may start removing stimulus. Investors also waded through more earnings results from big retailers Target and Lowe's.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 65 points, or 0.2%, to 35,194.
Futures for the S&P 500 eased back four points, or 0.1%, to 4,439.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite Index eked up 6.25 points to 15,003.75.
Shares of Target pulled back in pre-market trading even after beating on second-quarter earnings. The retailer's profit and revenue topped expectations and the company raised its forecast for the second half of the year, citing a good start to back-to-school spending. Target shares were up 44% this year through Tuesday, so some investors may be taking profits.
Shares of Lowe's jumped more than 4% in pre-market trading after earnings last quarter topped expectations, with higher sales to home professionals.
ViacomCBS shares popped around 3% in pre-market trading after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock, saying it can soar more than 50% on the back of strong streaming growth and possible industry consolidation.
Cisco Systems and Nvidia report after the bell. Stock trading app Robinhood releases its first earnings report as a public company on Wednesday after the bell.
The Federal Reserve publishes its meeting minutes from its July gathering at 2 p.m. ET. Market participants will be looking for clues about when the central bank could start dialing back its monthly bond buying program.
Since that July meeting, there's been growing support within the Fed to announce a tapering in September and begin it in October.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index regained 0.6%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index repaired 0.5%.
Oil prices acquired 79 cents to $67.35 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices inched up 50 cents to $1,788.30 U.S. a pound.