By Tomi Kilgore
U.S. stock futures nudged higher after data showing
private-sector job growth was slightly better than expected.
About 70 minutes ahead of the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average
futures rose 11 points, or 0.1%, to 16478. Just before the release
of the data, Dow futures were up two points.
S&P 500 index futures were little changed at 1872 and
Nasdaq-100 futures eased five points, or 0.1%, to 3559. Changes in
stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the
opening bell.
Private-sector jobs in April, as compiled by Automatic Data
Processing and Moody's Analytics, increased by 220,000, topping
expectations of a rise of 210,000. Many view the ADP report as a
preview of the government's monthly employment report due on
Friday.
Still on tap, the first read of first-quarter gross domestic
product, due out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, which is seen showing growth
of 1.1%, after increasing 2.6% in the fourth quarter.
And the Institute for Supply Management's Chicago-area
purchasing managers index for April, due at 9:45 a.m., is forecast
to decline to rise to 57.0 from March's 55.9.
But the highlight of session could be the Federal Reserve's
monetary policy statement, to be released at 2 p.m. Economists
expect the Fed to announce a further trimming of its
highly-stimulative bond purchase program by $10 billion a month to
$45 billion.
Earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage
applications fell 5.9% in the latest week.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note inched up to 2.713% from
2.695% late Tuesday.
Write to Tomi Kilgore at tomi.kilgore@wsj.com