MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks: Futures Flatten As Fed Day Arrives

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock market futures stuck to the flat line on Wednesday, as lingering nervousness over the conclusion of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting was balanced by news that China's central bank has flooded its lenders with liquidity.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2 points to 17,056, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPZ4) eased 0.2 point to 1,991.30. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index (NDZ4) slipped 2.25 points to 4,056.

At 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, data on consumer prices for August will be released, with economists expecting no change. At the same time, the current-account deficit for the second quarter will be released, while at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, a home builders' index is on tap.

But the big spotlight falls on the FOMC statement, due at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by a news conference with Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen. Some calming fears over rate hikes helped push the Dow industrials (DJI) to an intraday record high on Tuesday, and the S&P 500 index (SPX) to its biggest one-day gain in four weeks.

Wall Street's upbeat day came after Jon Hilsenrath, chief economic correspondent at The Wall Street Journal, said in a webcast that he thinks the Fed may keep the words "considerable time" in its policy statement, but with clarification. He added that the Fed probably doesn't want to send a signal right now that rate hikes are imminent. Eight keys to Fed's September meeting and Fed's exit plan may be a bumpy ride for investors

If the "considerable time" phrase sticks in the Fed statement, the market will be left as complacent on interest rates as it was two weeks ago, said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG, in a note. However, "it will mean that equity indexes should recover some of the upward momentum that has been lacking in recent sessions," he added.

China lent a hand to sentiment. A senior Chinese banking executive said the People's Bank of China is injecting 500 billion yuan ($81 billion) into the country's five big state-owned banks to help counter an economic slowdown. A string of recent weak data has heightened worries among investors. That news helped Hong Kong stocks break a five-session losing streak.

Stocks to watch: U.S. Steel Corp. (X) could add to a 7.4% late-session gain after the company said it was making major strategic changes.

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) could add to a nearly 5% late-session drop after quarterly results.

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (RAX) may tumble in premarket. Shares fell 16% late Tuesday after the cloud-computing company said it won't be selling itself.

Other markets: The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose, encouraged by Wall Street's up day on Tuesday and China stimulus. The FTSE 100 managed small gains ahead of Thursday's vote on Scottish independence. Gold(GCZ4) was unable to hang onto positive territory. Barclays cut its forecast for the metal, citing risks skewed to the downside.

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