US Stock Futures Flat; All Eyes On Fed Decision

US stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision. The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat at 15,876.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 0.60 points to 1,787.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 3.50 points to 3,504.50.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.09%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.24% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.26%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.41% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.17%. UK's house price index climbed 0.7% in January versus December, Nationwide reported. Italian manufacturing confidence fell to a reading of 97.7 in January versus 98.2 in December. Asian markets ended mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 2.70%, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.56%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.82% and India's BSE Sensex fell 0.18%.

Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded Wal-Mart Stores

from “neutral” to “outperform.” The target price for Wal-Mart has been raised from $80 to $87. Wal-Mart's shares closed at $74.67 yesterday.