Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a steady open on Friday, as the Federal Reserve's most recent policy statement continued to support, but investors remained cautious amid concerns over ongoing violence in Iraq.
Ahead of the open, the Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.03% uptick, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.04% rise, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.05% gain.
U.S. equities strengthened after the Fed gave no indication of when interest rates could start to rise at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. In addition, the Fed’s forecast of where interest rates might reach in the long term fell from 4% to 3.75%.
The central bank cut its bond purchases by $10 billion a month, to $35 billion, saying there was "sufficient underlying strength" in the U.S. economy to continue tapering.
But markets were jittery as the conflict between Sunni Islamist insurgents and Iraqi army forces continued on Friday.
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he was sending up to 300 U.S. military advisers to Iraq and that he was prepared to take "targeted" military action later if deemed necessary.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares slipped 0.19% pre-market, after Siemens (XETRA:SIEGn) and its partners improved their offer for Alstom (PARIS:ALSO)'s energy assets at $19.9 billion, raising the stakes in the takeover battle with the U.S. power company.
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) plunged 5.69% in early trading after saying late Thursday that fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales came out below analysts' estimates.
Elsewhere, AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) saw shares surge 4.26% in after hour trade, as the U.S. drugmaker's latest offer to buy U.K. rival Shire (LONDON:SHP) for as much as $46.5 billion was rejected.
American Ap (NYSE:APP) was set to add to gains, up 3.95% after soaring over 15% on Thursday when the clothing maker said it was replacing founder and chief executive officer, Dov Charney, following an investigation into misconduct.
In the financial sector, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was expected to be active following reports the U.S. lender will face a U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors about the quality of loans tied to $850 million in residential mortgage-backed securities.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were steady to higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 dipped 0.01%, France’s CAC 40 inched up 0.02%, Germany's DAX edged 0.09% higher, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.16%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.11%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 eased 0.08%.