Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wednesday, as investors were cautious ahead of fresh U.S. economic reports, to be released later in the day, as well as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.
Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.36% decline, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.38% drop, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.25% loss.
Markets were jittery after after data on Tuesday showed that the Empire State manufacturing index fell more-than-expected in February as new orders dropped.
A separate report showed foreign investors sold almost $120 billion of U.S. assets in December.
Investors were looking ahead to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting later in the trading day, when the bank voted to cut its stimulus program by another $10 billion to $65 billion per month.
Earlier this month, Fed Chair Janet Yellen indicated that the central bank is on track to maintain the pace of reductions to its stimulus program, as long as the economy continues to improve as expected.
The telecom sector was expected to be in focus, after BlackBerry Chief Executive Officer John Chen chastised T-Mobile US for encouraging users of his company’s devices to switch to Apple's iPhone.
The news came a day after investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund disclosed it had bought 10 million Blackberry shares. The move made Third Point the No. 5 shareholder in the Canada-based company.
Elsewhere, Coca-Cola shares were up 0.35% in pre-market trade after the beverage company said North American soft-drink demand shrank and its growth in emerging markets showed signs of slowing.
On Tuesday, the company said fourth-quarter net income declined 8.4% to $1.71 billion from $1.87 billion a year earlier, while sales dropped 3.6% to $11 billion, missing analysts' estimates.
Other stocks likely to be in focus included Devon Energy, MGM Mirage, Omnicare and Carlyle Group, scheduled to report quarterly results later in the day.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 declined 0.49%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.21%, Germany's DAX slid 0.37%, while Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.32%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.34%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slid 0.52%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish reports on building permits, housing starts and producer price inflation.