(RTTNews) - Stocks futures are pointing to a moderately higher open on Wednesday, as the day’s private employment data came roughly in-line with expectations, boosting trader sentiment ahead of the latest interest rate announcement from the Federal Reserve. The major index futures are all in positive territory, with the Dow futures up by 50 points.

Private sector employment continued to decrease in the month of October, according to a report released by Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), although the pace of job losses slowed for the seventh consecutive month.

Non-farm private employment fell by 203,000 jobs in October following a revised decrease of 227,000 jobs in September. Economists had expected a loss of 198,000 jobs compared to the decrease of 254,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Traders will also focus on the October reading of the Institute for Supply Management’s index of activity in the service sector, which is due to be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Economists expect the reading on the index to rise to 51.5 for the month from 50.9 in September.

This afternoon, all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve, which will release a statement elaborating its stance on interest rates and its outlook for the economy, at 2:15 p.m. ET.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will focus on any remarks regarding its exit strategy as well as comments on the sustainability of the economic recovery.

With earnings season winding down, Kraft Foods (KFT), the world’s second largest food company, said that its third quarter profit fell 39.5 percent from last year, when results were boosted by gains from the sale of discontinued operations. At the same time, the company raised its full year earnings outlook and said it is still interested in British confectioner Cadbury (CBY).

Time Warner Inc. (TWX) reported adjusted third quarter net income of $0.61 on revenues of $7.14 billion. The results topped Wall Street estimates, which called for earnings of $0.53 per on revenues of $7.08 billion.

Stocks saw a choppy trading session on Tuesday, despite some signs of life on the M&A front and positive news on factory orders. While the Dow fell by 17.53 points or 0.2 percent to 9,771.91, the Nasdaq closed up 8.12 points or 0.4 percent at 2,057.32 and the S&P 500 rose by 2.53 points or 0.2 percent to 1,045.41.

Crude oil futures are advancing by $1.01 to $80.61 a barrel after rising by $1.47 to $79.60 on Tuesday. Gold futures are also on the rise, up by $7.60 to $1,092.50 an ounce after jumping by $30.90 to $1,084.90 per ounce in the previous session.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is lower against the major European currencies, falling to $1.4766 versus the euro and declining to $1.6516 versus the pound. Meanwhile, the dollar is higher against the Japanese yen, trading at 90.98 yen.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed moderately higher on Wednesday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.8 percent.

The major European markets are also moving higher, with the U.K.’s FTSE 100 up by 0.7 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are up by 1.5 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

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