* Fed statement awaited for policy guidance
* General Mills profit tops estimate
* AMR, US Airways shares fall on stock sales (Changes quote, updates prices)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set for a slightly higher open on Wednesday ahead of a Federal Reserve policy statement and following results by food company General Mills Inc, which beat profit estimates.
General Mills shares rose 3.5 percent to $63.10 in premarket trading after the maker of Cheerios cereal and Yoplait yogurt posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by strong sales in the United States and lower commodity costs.
Later on Wednesday, with the Fed likely to keep interest rates unchanged, investors will focus on whether the central bank will signal any change in a policy that has flooded markets with cheap money. The Fed's statement is expected around 2:15 p.m. (1815 GMT)
The Fed will likely say it is "encouraged by signs of recovery, but it is just a budding recovery that needs the lubricant of low interest rates to continue," said Jim Awad, Managing Director at Zephyr Management in New York.
"They are going to walk right down the middle. I think they might be a touch more optimistic about the economy but not enough to rattle the markets either way."
Awad also said upcoming corporate earnings should be encouraging in general as "companies are in terrific shape and you're starting to get a little more movement on revenues."
S&P 500 futures rose 2.4 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 7 points and Nasdaq 100 futures added 5.75 points.
Ford Motor Co shares rose 2.7 percent to $7.20 after it said it will start production of a small car in India early next year. The company's chief executive said the U.S. market was showing signs of recovery, and he expected industry sales to rise in the next two years.
Seagate Technology shares rose 3.5 percent to $16.23 after the computer hard disk maker boosted its quarterly forecast on better-than-expected sales.
Chip maker Xilinx Inc shares jumped 6.7 percent to $24.25 after the company lifted its sales guidance for the second-quarter.
Declining shares included AMR Corp, which dropped 3 percent to $8.19 before the bell, and US Airways Group Inc, which tumbled 8.2 percent to $4.80, as the companies launched share sales to raise money for general corporate purposes.
Real estate investment trusts Colony Financial Inc and Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc lowered the number of shares they expect to sell in initial public offerings on Wednesday in a signal of weak demand amid the biggest week for IPOs in nearly two years.
U.S. stocks rose broadly on Tuesday as investors bet the Fed will stick to its accommodative policy to foster economic recovery.