U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, following a three-day gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as investors awaited the latest monetary-policy decision from the Federal Reserve.

Global markets:

Nikkei 15,115.8 +139.83 +0.93%

Hang Seng 23,181.72 -21.87 -0.09%

Shanghai Composite 2,055.52 -11.18 -0.54%

FTSE 6,789.51 +22.74 +0.34%

CAC 4,535.82 -0.25 -0.01%

DAX 9,943.33 +23.01 +0.23%

Crude oil $106.64 (+0.25%)

Gold $1272.70 (+0.06%)

(company / ticker / price / change, % / volume)

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Cisco Systems (CSCO) initiated with a Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Stock indices traded slightly higher ahead of the Fed’s interest later in the day. Market participants expect the Fed will cut its monthly asset purchases by another $10 billion to $35 billion, but the Fed will keep its interest rate unchanged until 2015.

The violence in Iraq still weighed on stock markets.

The Bank of England (BoE) released its June meeting minutes. The Bank of England policymakers were surprised that financial markets had not saw a higher chance of an interest rate hike in 2014. But there are still concerns over interest hike this year. The BoE said interest rise could reduce production capacity and it is difficult to revoke the decision.

Current figures:

Name                                   Price                                    Change                 Change %

FTSE 100                             6,795.99                              +29.22                        +0.43%

DAX                                      9,940.18                              +19.86                       +0.20%

CAC 40                                 4,540.01                                +3.94                       +0.09%

Most Asian stock declined ahead of the Fed’s interest decision today. Market participants expect the Fed will cut its asset purchase program by another $10 billion, but the Fed will keep its interest rate unchanged until 2015.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) released its May monetary policy meeting minutes. The BoJ said the country's economy is expected to continue its moderate recovery and the current monetary easing appears to be having the intended results.

The BoJ reported that the political unrest in Thailand could impact Japan's exports.

Japan's merchandise trade deficit reached Y909 billion in May, after a deficit of Y811.7 billion in April. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to Y1,189.3 billion.

Japan’s exports declined 2.7% year-on-year in May. That was the first decline in 15 months. Imports dropped at annual rate by 3.6%.

Indexes on the close:

Nikkei 225                         15,115.80                  +139.83             +0.93%

Hang Seng                         23,181.72                    -21.87              -0.09%

Shanghai Composite          2,055.52                    -11.18              -0.54%

Nikon Corp. shares declined 2.6% after JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its rating.

Nikkei 14,975.97 +42.68 +0.29%

Hang Seng 23,203.59 -97.08 -0.42%

Shanghai Composite 2,066.7 -19.28 -0.92%

S&P 1,941.99 +4.21 +0.22%

NASDAQ 4,337.23 +16.13 +0.37%

Dow 16,808.49 +27.48 +0.16%

FTSE 1,387.75 +3.80 +0.27%

CAC 4,536.07 +26.02 +0.58%

DAX 9,920.32 +36.34 +0.37%