LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures traded in a tight range on Thursday, as the post-Fed debate continued and leaders from the world's top economies meet.
S&P 500 futures fell a half point to 1,058.40 and Nasdaq 100 futures inched 2.5 points higher to 1,728.00. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 14 points.
U.S. stocks closed lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged but slow the speed of a program buying $1.25 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities. Though the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose as much as 88 points immediately after the decision, the blue-chip index ended 81 points in the red, as the Nasdaq Composite lost 14 points and the S&P 500 dropped 10 points.
"We are pleased the Fed is showing more optimism about the growth of the economy, but are still waiting for it to be more explicit about when it intends to shift away from the loosest peacetime monetary policy in the history of the United States," said economists from First Trust.
Morgan Stanley strategists upped their year-end S&P 500 target to 1,050 from 900 citing better-than-expected earnings -- but not higher multiples. "A higher multiple would justify a higher target, but we don't see a compelling reason why equities should trade significantly richer in the current environment, despite low official interest rates," they said in a note to clients.
With one major event out of the way, the market will turn its focus to the Group of 20 meeting in Pittsburgh and the potential for tougher bank regulation.
"The potential for negative headlines around future financial sector regulation may have caused some concern," said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank, referring to Wednesday's 2.1% drop for the financial sector.
Also on tap will be data on weekly jobless claims and existing home sales for August.
The Treasury is selling $29 billion in seven-year notes.
Of companies in the spotlight, Electronic Arts (ERTS 19.36, -0.47, -2.37%) fell 3% after Microsoft (MSFT 25.84, +0.13, +0.51%) late Wednesday said it has no plans to acquire the maker of video games.
Red Hat (RHT 27.20, +2.32, +9.33%) rose nearly 7% as the software developer's profit rose 37%.
Vical (VICL 4.83, +0.61, +14.46%) rose nearly 12% after it said animal studies showed a cancer vaccine with the company's Vaxfection extra ingredient proved effective.
Sanofi-Aventis (SNY 37.66, +0.45, +1.21%) drifted in Paris. A vaccine of Sanofi's used in combination with another showed effectiveness against HIV but not enough to get licensed, according to a study released Thursday.
Equities were down in most countries though the Nikkei 225 rose 1.7% in Tokyo after a holiday. The FTSE 100 fell 0.3% in London.
Yields on 10-year Treasury bonds fell 1 basis point to 3.41%, and oil futures extended Wednesday's retreat with a 63-cents-a-barrel fall.
The dollar fell against the Japanese yen and the euro.
