(Updates with economic data, recent oil price movement, world markets' overview and corporate stock movements.)

US equity futures were mostly flat pre-bell Wednesday as traders awaited the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting minutes for further insights on the central bank's rate outlook.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.2% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.1% lower.

The minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting held July 28-29 are scheduled to be released 2 pm ET.

President Donald Trump said late Tuesday that the US is not in any current or scheduled talks with Iran. In a post on Truth Social, Trump also reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz is "open and operating," with all mines having been removed or detonated.

The UAE has halted trade with Iran after accusing Iran of firing two ballistics missiles towards its territory, which fell into the sea. Iran has denied the allegations, according to multiple reports.

Traders digested the latest round of earnings, with Analog Devices (ADI) reporting higher fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 0.2% at $90.84 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 0.3% lower at $83.84 per barrel.

The Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations survey for August is expected at 10 am ET.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 3.2% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.1% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 2.4% lower. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, and Germany's DAX index was 0.2% lower in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, Merck (MRK) and Moderna (MRNA) shares rose 6.8% and 93%, respectively, after the two companies said that a late-stage trial of intismeran autogene in combination with Keytruda met its primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival, as well as a key secondary endpoint of distant metastasis-free survival, in patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma. SK Hynix (SKHY) stock was up 5.9%% after the company said it will buy back and cancel 40 trillion South Korean won ($28.69 billion) of treasury shares as part of efforts to boost shareholder returns.

On the losing side, Lowe's (LOW) shares fell 1.3% after the company reported fiscal Q2 net sales that fell short of analysts' consensus. TJX Companies (TJX) stock was down 4.3% after the company issued lower-than-expected fiscal Q3 diluted EPS guidance. Nebius Group (NBIS) shares dropped 4.9% after the company said it intends to offer $4.5 billion of convertible senior notes in a private offering to qualified institutional buyers.