DJ INDUSTRIAL

(MT Newswires) -- US stocks were set for a downbeat session Wednesday as traders evaluate a raft of corporate earnings and look ahead to the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate decision.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 319 points or 1%, S&P futures declined 41.5 points or 1.1%, while Nasdaq futures decreased 101.5 points or 0.8%.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its policy statement at 2 pm ET, which will be followed by a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at 2:30 pm ET.

Oil prices were little changed, with both global benchmarks Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate crude hovering near the flat line, after industry data showed a weekly draw in US crude inventories.

At 8:30 am, data showed a 0.2% uptick in new orders for durable goods in December versus Bloomberg data compiled estimates for a 1% gain, and the 1.2% revised increase in November.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.3% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.3% lower, and China's Shanghai Composite closed 0.1% higher. Meanwhile, UK's FTSE 100 fell 1.8%, and Germany's DAX index declined 2.1% in Europe's early afternoon session.

On the winning side, Aeterna Zentaris (AEZS) shares surged 20.1% after the company secured a 180-day extension to regain compliance with Nasdaq's minimum bid price rule. Timber Pharmaceuticals (TMBR) shares gained 6.8% after the company appointed Alan Mendelsohn as chief medical officer.

On the losing side, shares of The Boeing Company (BA) were 3% lower pre-bell after the company reported a wider net loss on lower revenues for Q4. T2 Biosystems (TTOO) shares fell 21.3% even after the company issued an upbeat revenue guidance for Q4. Plug Power (PLUG) shares declined 12.5% after the company priced a public offering of common stock at $65 per share.