U.S. futures edge lower amid Fed taper uncertainty; Dow Jones down 0.31%

U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday, as comments by Federal Reserve official dampened expectations for the central bank to begin tapering its bond buying program before the year end. 

Ahead of the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.31% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.28% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.30% decline. 

Comments by Fed officials on Monday indicated that the bank is likely to keep its stimulus program in place for some time to come.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said bank should keep its asset purchase program in place until there is "compelling evidence of a sustainable recovery making satisfactory progress toward full employment." 

The tech sector was expected to be active, as BlackBerry said it will raise USD1 billion in convertible bonds and seek a new chief executive officer after the recent collapse of a USD4.7 billion buyout by Fairfax Financial Holdings. 

The news sent the company's shares up 2.23% in pre-market trade 
Separately, Apple said it will be opening a new plant in Mesa, Arizona, that will create 2,000 jobs to make components for its products, in a move to boost manufacturing in the U.S. 

The iPhone maker declined 0.43% in early trading. 

Google, down 0.19% in extended trading, said it plans to spend USD608 million to expand its Finnish data center as mobile video demand increases. 

Financial stocks were also slated to be active, after Morgan Stanley said it lost money from trading on seven days in the third quarter, down from eight a year earlier, sending shares down 0.14% pre-market. 


Other stocks likely to be in focus included 21st Century Fox, Tesla Motors, LiveNation and OpenTable, all scheduled to report quarterly earnings later in the day. 

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The EURO STOXX 50 retreated 0.54%, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.41%, Germany's DAX shed 0.34%, while Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.54%. 

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.65%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index added 0.17%. 

Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management is to release a report on service sector activity.