Futures edge higher ahead of Fed meeting

US stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday as hopes of an economic recovery in China lifted sentiment, while focus was also on minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December policy meeting for clues on the outlook for interest rate hikes.

Minutes from the Fed’s previous meeting, when it raised interest rates by half a percentage point and cautioned rates may need to remain higher for longer, are due to be released at 2 p.m. ET (1900 GMT).

Meanwhile, US-listed Chinese firms such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, JD.com Inc and Baidu Inc jumped more than 6% on hopes of a post-COVID recovery in China and on talk of support for the country’s housing sector, reported Reuters.

Wall Street’s main indexes saw a rocky start to 2023 on Tuesday, with the biggest drags being Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) after the electric-vehicle maker missed estimates on deliveries and Apple Inc (AAPL.O) that slumped after a rating downgrade.

The declines followed a hit to US equities in 2022 on worries of a recession due to aggressive monetary policy tightening, with the three main stock indexes logging their steepest annual losses since 2008.