Investing.com - Wall Street futures were mixed on Wednesday, as investors eyed the release of U.S. housing sector data due later in the day.
The blue-chip Dow futures were up 0.09%, the S&P 500 futures inched 0.06% higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.06%.
Investors remained cautious after Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said on Monday that economic stability could be threatened by low interest rates, but it was "not that simple" for the Fed to raise rates.
However, sentiment improved after data earlier Wednesday showed that China’s gross domestic product rose 1.8% in the third quarter, in line with expectations.
Year-on-year, China’s economy grew 6.7% in the last quarter, also in line with market expectations.
Financial stocks were expected to be in focus after Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced far better than expected profits before the bell, sending shares up 0.90% in pre-market trade.
Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was also likely to be in the spotlight, with shares up 0.91% pre-market, after the company announced revenue below market expectations but them on earnings.
Elsewhere, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares were up just 0.02% in pre-market trade, after surging over 19% on Tuesday when the company announced a strong increase in new subscribers.
Other companies scheduled to release earnings reports on Wednesday included American Express (NYSE:AXP), eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), and Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT).
Later in the day, the U.S. was set to release data on building permits and housing starts.