Us futures hold higher amid data; fed decision eyed

U.S. stock index futures indicated a higher open Wednesday, following some hefty selling in global equity markets, as investors eyed an upcoming rate decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to end its two-day meeting at 2 p.m. ET without a further hike in interest rates. Its post-meeting is not expected to shed any light on the

timing of its next rate rise. But it is expected to continue to say it will hike rates if the economic data is good enough. The Fed could also note that it is monitoring international

developments, particularly since the upcoming U.K. vote on exiting the European Union has been troubling markets. Investors continue to fret over a so-called Brexit with daily polls showing

a strengthening for the leave campaign. On Wednesday, that he will take new austerity measures if the country decides to leave the EU in next week's referendum. "If you think the

current level of market volatility is high, it will get a lot worse if Britain votes for Brexit next week. It's not a panic yet but there are clearly signs of stress in the (City of

London) and the wider markets. Traders are getting nervous and for good reason," Andrew Edwards, CEO of spread better ETX Capital, said in a morning note. "Several recent polls

suggest Britain will head for the exits - the latest survey gives leave a 7-point lead." U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday, amid declines in oil prices. On Wednesday morning, European

stocks traded higher after a rocky start and in Asia, Chinese markets led gains in a mixed session, shrugging off a decision by stock index provider MSCI on Tuesday to delay inclusion of

mainland-traded Chinese A shares in its key emerging market index. Back in the U.S., traders monitored fresh data with May PPI and an Empire State survey both coming in better than expected.

The producer price index rose a slightly more-than-expected 0.4 percent in May, following a 0.2 percent rise the prior month, the Labor Department said. In the 12 months through May, PPI

fell 0.1 percent after being unchanged in April. The core PPI that excludes food, energy and trade services fell 0.1 percent last month after rising 0.3 percent in April, for a 0.8 percent

rise in the 12 months through May. The June 2016 Empire State Manufacturing Survey rose to 6.0 from a negative 9 print last month. Industrial production numbers showed a decline of 0.4

percent in May and April's figure was revised lower to show a 0.6 percent increase versus the previously reported 0.7 percent. May capacity utilization edged lower from the prior month

to 74.9 percent. Fed Chair Janet Yellen's press briefing will take place at 2:30 p.m. ET and TIC data will be released at 4 p.m. ET. _—CNBC's Patti Domm and Saheli Roy Choudhury

contributed to this article._