Data on housing starts, consumer prices and current account deficit are due By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures rose on Wednesday, along with oil and other commodity prices, ahead of a statement from the Federal Reserve that's expected to signal no major changes in monetary policy. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 48 points to 10,507. S&P 500 futures rose 6.60 points, or 0.6%, to 1,110.50 and Nasdaq 100 futures added 13.25 points to 1,808.20. The gains came after U.S. equities ended lower on Tuesday, as the government reported inflation climbed faster than anticipated in November. The Dow Jones Industrial fell 0.5%, while the S&P 500 index (SPX 1,108, -6.18, -0.55%) dropped 0.6%. All eyes are on the Federal Reserve, which will announce its interest-rate decision at 2:15 p.m. Eastern time. The Fed is expected to keep its short-term interest rate target on hold at 0% to 0.25% and continue to signal that it will not raise rates for a long time. "There is nothing in either the economic data or conditions in financial markets that we think will lead the Fed to signal a change in policy Wednesday," wrote Julia Coronado of BNP Paribas in a note to clients. Investors will be watching to see if the Fed upgrades its economic outlook after the November jobs data was much better than expected. A string of economic reports are also scheduled for release on Wednesday. At 8:30 a.m. Eastern, data on housing starts, consumer prices, and the current account deficit are due. Housing starts are forecast to increase to 563,000 from 529,000 and consumer prices are seen rising 0.4% as energy costs grow. In the euro zone, consumer prices rose a 0.1% in November compared to October. Of stocks in the spotlight, Adobe Systems (ADBE 36.36, +0.58, +1.62%) may be active after swinging to a fourth-quarter loss while forecasting first-quarter sales above Street expectations. Joy Global (JOYG 55.37, +1.22, +2.25%) and Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV 3.80, +0.10, +2.70%) are due to report results. In the commodity markets, oil prices rose 69 cents to $71.38 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. The Energy Information Administration is expected to report Wednesday a decline of 2 million barrels in crude stocks last week, according to analysts polled by Platts. Gold futures also gained, with the December contract rising 1% to $1,134 an ounce. The dollar, meanwhile, fell modestly against the euro and most of its other rivals. European stocks posted gained on Wednesday, boosted by positive economic data, including euro-zone gauges of manufacturing and services sentiment rising to multi-month highs. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index (ST:SXXP 249.63, +2.46, +0.10%) traded up 0.7%. In Asia, most markets ended lower Wednesday, but banking shares in Japan rose on hopes for a delayed introduction of stricter capital requirements.

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