U.S. stock futures trade flat

U.S. stock futures were moving in and out of positive territory on Wednesday as jitters set in at the prospect of an easing monetary policy.

"Markets have started to factor in the prospect of Fed tapering at the December meeting," said Daniel Martin of Capital Economics.

Ahead of the bell, Dow Jones industrial average index futures were up 0.1%, but Standard & Poor's 500 index and Nasdaq index futures slipped 0.1%.

The Federal Reserve's policy-making Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet Dec. 17-18 in Washington.

The central bank's $85 billion of monthly bond purchases have kept U.S. interest rates low to encourage economic recovery but also sent a flood of money into stock markets worldwide in search of higher returns.

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Asian stocks were mostly down Wednesday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.6% to 15,515.06 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.5% to 23,387.68.

On Wall Street, stocks fell modestly Tuesday as investors took a breather from a string of record highs. The Dow fell 0.3% to 15,973.13. The S&P 500 lost 0.3% to 1,802.62. The Nasdaq composite shed 0.2% to 4,060.49.

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Benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery was down 3 cents to $98.48 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.17 to close at $98.51 on Tuesday.

Contributing: Associated Press