US STOCKS-Futures drift higher on Apple results; Fed rate decision awaited

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* Apple shares jump on upbeat earnings, forecast
* Modest drop in U.S. borrowing costs widely expected
* Futures up: Dow 0.25%, S&P 500 0.17%, Nasdaq 0.38%

By Shreyashi Sanyal
July 31 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on
Wednesday, as trade worries eased after Apple reported upbeat
earnings and forecast, while investors awaited an almost certain
cut in interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
The iPhone maker AAPL.O beat quarterly profit and revenue
expectations, and forecast strong sales for the current quarter.
Apple's greater China sales dipped only slightly, assuaging
concerns that trade tensions were undermining the company's
standing in one of its most important markets. The Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 pointed to a 0.4% rise for
the tech-heavy index, helped by Apple's 4.3% jump in premarket
trading.
The U.S.-China trade talks concluded on Wednesday without
any major breakthrough and the Chinese commerce ministry said
the two sides will meet again in the United States in September.
This comes a day after President Donald Trump warned Beijing
against trying to wait out his first term in office to finalize
a deal, sending jitters through global financial markets.
Meanwhile, market participants are expecting a
quarter-percentage-point cut in borrowing costs by the U.S.
central bank. All eyes will now be on Fed Chairman Jerome
Powell, who is set to hold a news conference after the rates
decision at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), to explain why the move was
necessary and what comes next. "It's Fed day and investors will ponder the language of the
communique as a 25 basis point cut is already expected," said
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital
Securities in New York.
Wall Street's main indexes have had a strong run since a
steep selloff in May, with the S&P 500 index .SPX now up 20%
for the year as investors hoped that a modest rate cut would
help combat slowing growth and boost tame inflation.
At 7:14 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 67 points, or
0.25%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 5.25 points, or 0.17% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 30 points, or 0.38%.
Also on the radar was the ADP National Employment Report due
at 8:15 a.m. ET, often considered a precursor to the Labor
Department's more comprehensive monthly non-farm payrolls data.
It is expected to show private employers added 150,000 jobs
last month, compared to an addition of 102,000 jobs in June. The
Labor Department's jobs report for the month of July is due on
Friday.
Among other stocks, Electronic Arts Inc EA.O rose 6.7%
after the video game publisher posted quarterly revenue beat,
riding on the continued success of its battle royale game "Apex
Legends". Advanced Micro Devices Inc's AMD.O shares fell 5% after it
forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates, hit
by lower demand for its chips used in gaming consoles.
Its downbeat forecast weighed on Micron Technology MU.O ,
Nvidia Corp NVDA.O and Intel Corp INTC.O , which were trading
down between 0.4% and 1.5%.
General Electric Co's GE.N shares rose 5% after the
industrial conglomerate said it has started a search for a new
chief financial officer following the exit of Jamie Miller. The
company also said it swung back to a financial loss during the
second quarter.