US Stock Futures Edge Higher; All Eyes On Fed Decision

US stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision. The US current account report for the first quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while the Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 4 points to 16,733.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 0.40 points to 1,934.20. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 4.75 points to 3,777.00.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.30%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.06%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.16%, French CAC 40 Index surged 0.01% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.33%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.93%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.09%, China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 0.54% and India's BSE Sensex tumbled 1.08%. Japan's exports dropped 2.7% y/y, while imports declined 3.6% in May.

Analysts at Barclays downgraded Covidien plc

from “overweight” to “equal-weight.” The target price for Covidien has been raised from $82 to $93. Covidien's shares closed at $88.12 yesterday.