US equity futures posted narrow gains before Wednesday's opening bell as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.4%, S&P 500 futures increased 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures were up 0.1%. Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 0.7% at $73.73 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 0.9% higher at $70.25 per barrel. US housing starts dropped to a 1.289 million annual rate in November from a 1.312 million rate in the prior month, while estimates compiled by Bloomberg anticipated a jump to 1.34 million.
Conversely, permits rose to 1.505 million for the month from 1.419 million previously, compared to estimates for a smaller increase to 1.43 million. The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to release a policy statement at 2 pm ET, with forecasters expecting a 25-basis-point cut in the target band for the Federal Funds rate. In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.7% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.8% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite ended 0.6% higher.
Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.1%, and Germany's DAX index increased 0.1%. France's CAC 40 gained 0.06%, and Spain's IBEX 35 rose 0.3% in Europe's early afternoon session. In equities, shares of AstraZeneca ($AZN) were 1.9% lower pre-bell following a media report that the drugmaker's sales in China have been impacted due to the arrest of its country president and other executives. On the winning side, Jabil ($JBL) shares rose nearly 11% after the company reported fiscal Q1 revenue that surpassed analysts' estimates..