Stock futures are little changed as investors weigh earnings, Fed and geopolitics

cnbc.com:

Stock futures were little changed in overnight trading as investors digest corporate earnings reports, updates from the Federal Reserve and developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were near flat. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were also less than 0.1% changed.

A slew of companies reported quarterly results after the bell Wednesday. DoorDash surged more than 25% after hours. Cisco and Applied Materials both added around 3% in extended trading.

The S&P 500 in Wednesday's regular trading session closed little changed, while the Dow shed nearly 55 points and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.1%.

The major stock averages came off their lows Wednesday after the release of minutes from the Fed's January meeting.

The minutes showed the Fed is prepared to hike interest rates and reduce its balance sheet soon, as investors had already expected.

«Marketwise it's not the barn burner it could have been,» said Michael Schumacher, director of rates at Wells Fargo. «I think this tells us very little about Fed policy.»

Ongoing tension at the Russia-Ukraine border continued to impact market sentiment.

NATO officials on Wednesday accused Russia of increasing troop numbers at the Ukrainian border. U.S. and Russian aircraft in the Mediterranean Sea flew close to each other over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday

Investors are awaiting quarterly reports Thursday from Walmart, Airbus, Autonation and Nestle.

Weekly jobless claims numbers will also be released Thursday morning.