US stocks struggling for direction ahead of Fed minutes

After initially struggling for some relief from a sharp sell-off in the previous session, major US equity indices turned neutral on Wednesday as investors now look forward to the Federal Reserve minutes for next leg of direction. On Tuesday, US equity markets dropped sharply primarily led by a slump in shares of Alcoa on the back of disappointing quarterly results. 

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by meager 10 points to 18,140 and the broader S&P 500 index gained around 3 point to 2,140. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq composite relatively underperformed and was nearly unchanged around 5,248.

Reversal in crude oil prices from session high above $51.00/barrel mark failed to extend support, while retracement in the GBP/USD pair also signaled towards fading the initial optimism led by Britain PM Theresa May's announcement to discuss her Brexit plans in the parliament, which eased fears of a 'hard Brexit'.

Investors now turn their focus on minutes of the FOMC September meeting, where hints that the central bank might be inclined to raise interest rates by the end of this year would be the next big trigger for the markets. 

In other markets, the overall US Dollar Index, which tracks greenback performance against its key counterparts, was mildly higher. Meanwhile, gold has managed to hold and recover from $1250 support area to currently trade with marginal gains at $1256 level.