US STOCKS-Futures edge higher ahead of Fed policy meet

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* Futures up: Dow 0.06%, S&P 0.19%, Nasdaq 0.46%

By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures ticked higher
on Wednesday as investors hoped for cues of support from the
Federal Reserve, while the country grappled with a spike in
coronavirus cases.
Recent data pointed to a possible slowdown in business and
hiring as infections spiked in the three most populous states —
California, Florida and Texas — this month.
Investors will keep a close watch on how the U.S. central
bank addresses these economic risks at the end of its two-day
meeting on Wednesday. No major policy decisions are expected in Fed's statement at
2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT) which will be followed by Chair Jerome
Powell's press conference.
Emergency monetary stimulus measures along with trillions of
dollars in fiscal support have been pivotal in driving a sharp
recovery in the U.S. stock markets since March.
Republicans in the U.S. Congress, White House and Democrats
still struggled to find a footing over their $1 trillion new
coronavirus aid package, as the expiry of a $600-per-week
enhanced coronavirus unemployment benefit loomed. Wall Street's main indexes closed lower in the previous
session as investors fretted over weakening consumer confidence
and disappointing financial results from industrial conglomerate
3M Co MMM.N and McDonald's Corp MCD.N .
Focus will also be on quarterly earnings reports from Boeing
Co BA.N and defense contractor General Dynamics Corp GD.N
among many others later in the day.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O jumped 11.3% premarket
after the chipmaker raised its full-year revenue forecast,
driven in part by an overall surge in chip demand due to a
global shift to work from home, and market-share gains from
larger rival Intel Corp INTC.O . At 6:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 17 points, or
0.06%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 6.25 points, or 0.19% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 49 points, or 0.46%.
The chief executives of four of the world's largest tech
companies, Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Facebook Inc FB.O , Apple
AAPL.O and Alphabet's Google GOOGL.O will testify on
Wednesday to a panel of lawmakers investigating how their
business practices and data gathering have hurt smaller rivals.
All four companies are set report results on Thursday.
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O climbed 5.3% after the coffee chain
said business was "steadily recovering" worldwide and it would
return to profitability in the current quarter on improving
sales and margins.