US equity futures were edging lower ahead of Wednesday's opening bell as traders awaited the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy-setting meeting for clues about future monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures followed suit with a 0.1% decrease, and Nasdaq futures slipped by 0.2%.
Meanwhile, oil prices faced a downturn, with the front-month global benchmark, North Sea Brent crude, down 0.5% at $76.77 per barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude also fell by 0.5% to $73.18 per barrel. The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to release the minutes from its September meeting at 2 PM ET, which is highly anticipated among market participants.
In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei managed to close 0.9% higher, whereas Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 1.4% lower, and China's Shanghai Composite suffered a substantial decline of 6.6%. In Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.2%, while Germany's DAX 30 index was slightly up by 0.1%. France's CAC 40 saw a marginal dip of 0.04%, and Spain's IBEX-35 was down 0.5% in Europe's early afternoon trading session.
Looking at equity performances, shares of Arcadium Lithium ($ALTM) surged nearly 30% in pre-bell trading following the company's agreement for a $5.85-per-share takeover by Rio Tinto ($RIO). In addition, Clearside Biomedical ($CLSD) shares rose 10% after the company announced that topline data from its phase 2b trial showed its potential treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration achieved both primary and secondary outcomes.
Conversely, on the losing side, Kidpik ($PIK) shares dropped 11% after the company revealed in a Form 8-K filing Tuesday that it has submitted a request to the Nasdaq Hearings Panel to stay the delisting of its shares. Traders continue to keep a close eye on market movements as they navigate through a landscape marked by potential Federal Reserve policy shifts and diverse global market conditions..