Stock futures off ahead of Fed minutes, retail sal
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Stock futures off ahead of Fed minutes, retail sales
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures tilted lower on Wednesday ahead of reports on retail sales, housing figures and inflation as well as minutes from the October Federal Reserve meeting that could offer more clues about the health of the world’s largest economy.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (CBT JZ3) fell 16 points, or 0.1%, to 15,918, while those for the S&P 500 index (GLC:SPZ3) inched 2.40 points, or 0.1%, lower to 1,782.80. Nasdaq futures (GLC:NDZ3) slipped 1.25 points to 3,374.25.
The muted moves came after the main U.S. indexes pulled back on Tuesday as investors showed caution after the Dow and S&P failed to hold above milestone levels at the start of the week.
After the close on Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated the central bank would like to move away from using its balance sheet to help the economy and focus more on forward guidance. He also emphasized plans to continue ultra-loose monetary policy and said the Fed would likely hold rates near zero well after the economy reaches the 6.5% unemployment rate that it has said is the threshold for considering a rate increase. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-future...2013-11-20