Dow Jones futures edge higher ahead of Fed policy, Q2 GDP and tech earnings

• US equity futures trade slightly higher ahead of opening.
• Fed's monetary policy, Q2 GDP and earnings from Microsoft and Meta will be key triggers for US stock markets.
• Investors expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady for the fifth straight meeting.

Dow Jones futures tick up during the European trading session on Wednesday. The 30-stocks basket edges higher after a two-day decline, with investors awaiting the outcome of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy meeting at 18:00 GMT.

At the time of writing, Dow Jones futures trade 0.15% higher above 44,650. S&P 500 futures gain 12 points and rises above 6,380.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, the Fed is certain to leave interest rates steady in the range of 4.25%-4.50%.

Investors will closely monitor the Fed's policy announcement to get cues about when the central bank will resume its monetary-expansion cycle, which is paused in December. After the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report of July, a slew of Fed officials guided that monetary policy adjustments are inappropriate at this point of time as the impact of tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump since his return to the White House has started feeding into prices.

However, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, and Governor Christopher Waller argued in favor of an interest rate reduction as early as this month, citing downside risks to labor market.

Additionally, investors will also pay close attention to the preliminary Q2 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. The GDP data is expected to show that the economy grew at a robust pace of 2.4% after declining by 0.5% in the first quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, earnings report from Microsoft and Meta will also keep investors on the tenterhooks. Both tech-giants are expected to release their quarterly results after the opening bell.