U.S. stock futures ticked higher Wednesday as investors await the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 75 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.2% each. The central bank is widely anticipated to hold the benchmark overnight borrowing rate steady in the 5.25% to 5.5% range, but investors will also parse through Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s commentary for clues into how soon rate cuts can be expected. As it is, the CME FedWatch Tool shows markets are pricing in odds of rate cuts beginning next spring. But that’s a scenario Powell may choose to push back on, especially as Treasury yields pull back on their own. The 10-year Treasury yield has fallen to 4.2% after topping 5% in October. “He may hint that’s doing some of the prospective easing,” Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday. “That’s, to me, what I’m going to be focused on, is whether he sort of does the opposite of what he did when he said that the move up in yields had done some of the tightening for the Fed,” Sonders added. Fresh inflation data on Wednesday kept futures trading steady. The producer price index was unchanged in November after decreasing 0.4% in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast a rise of 0.1%. Investors are coming off a fourth straight positive session. Both The Dow and S&P 500 hit their highest intraday levels since January 2022. The Nasdaq Composite reached its highest level since April 2022. Treasury yields fell slightly on Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision and guidance on the outlook for monetary policy and the U.S. economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped 2 basis points to 4.176%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last down by 3 basis points to 4.688%. China stocks led declines among Asia-Pacific markets Wednesday as investors digested Beijing’s plan to boost domestic demand, ahead of the interest rate decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The mainland Chinese CSI 300 index shed 1.67% on Wednesday, closing at 3,369.6 and hitting fresh four-year lows. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.31% and closed at 7,257.8, extending its four-month highs. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.25% to close at 32,926.35, while the Topix was unchanged at 2,354.92. In contrast, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.97% to close at 2,510.66 and the small-cap Kosdaq slid 1.22% to 829.31. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.94% in its final hour, after leading gains in Asia on Tuesday. Oil were steady on Wednesday, after falling by more than 3% to six-month lows on oversupply and demand concerns. Brent crude futures for February rose 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $73.40 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for January gained 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $68.81 a barrel. Gold prices edged up on Wednesday, buoyed by weaker Treasury yields, but bullion was still near its lowest in over three weeks as the dollar inched higher ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and policy outlook. Spot gold gained 0.1% at $1,981.30 per ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,997.60. The dollar index rose 0.1%, making gold more expensive for other currency holders, but falling U.S. 10-year Treasury yields lent some support to prices.