MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures pointed to a stronger open on Wednesday, with all eyes focused on an expected policy statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve as it concludes its two-day meeting. S&P 500 futures rose 4.3 points to 894.50 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 5.25 points to 1,429.25. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38 points. After sliding 200 points in the prior session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 16 points, or 0.2%, at 8,322 on Tuesday. The S&P 500 index rose 2.1 points while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.3 points. Attention on Wednesday turns to the Fed, which is due to release a policy statement at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. Joseph LaVorgna, an economist with Deutsche Bank, said they aren't expecting policymakers to make any adjustments to the Treasury buying program, nor "pre-commit to low interest rates for an indefinite period of time." "However, the statement is still likely to mention policymakers' concerns about the durability of any recovery as well as the possibility inflation could fall to undesirably low levels in the intermediate term," said LaVorgna, in a research note. "Therefore, we expect the statement to be sufficiently dovish such that market expectations of a yearend exit strategy are premature." If the Fed is going to make any mistake, said LaVorgna in a research note, it'll be keeping rates too low for too long. "This is what happened in Japan and we doubt (Federal Reserve Chairman) Bernanke wants to make the same mistake. However, given excess slack and a breakdown in the monetary transmission mechanism, inflation is far out into the future," he said. This week also marks a record load of bond auctions, with a $37 billion auction of five-year notes due Wednesday after a well-bid $40 billion two-year note auction Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond was up 1 point to 3.64%. Yields move in the opposite direction to prices. On the economic calendar, durable goods orders for May are due at 8:30 a.m., and new home sales for May are expected at 10 a.m. Also on the economic front, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development offered some upwardly revised forecasts for the first time in two years on Wednesday, saying the global recession is nearing a bottom. It expects gross domestic product across its 30-member area to shrink by 4.1% in 2009 followed by growth of 0.7% in 2010, versus March forecasts of a 4.3% contraction this year and a 0.1% fall in 2010. The OECD expects the U.S. economy to shrink by 2.8% this year after previously forecasting a 4% decline in March, and grow by 0.9% in 2010 after a previous call for flat growth. Among company news, Oracle (ORCL 20.68, +0.81, +4.08%) rose 1% in Frankfurt after the company reported a 7% dip in quarterly profit on declining sales of new licenses in what's typically its strongest period of the year. The results were slightly ahead of estimates and it issued better-than-expected guidance. Among other earnings news, quarterly results from Monsanto (MON 79.73, +0.43, +0.54%) and Darden Restaurants (DRI 32.05, -0.95, -2.88%) are both expected before the bell. On the deal front, Canadian oil and gas exploration and production company Addax Petroleum Corp. (CA:AXC 45.65, +1.00, +2.24%) said it's agreed to a proposed takeover from Asian refiner Sinopec Group worth over $7 billion. In overseas markets the Fed remained in focus. In Europe, stocks advanced, helped by improved sentiment towards metal stocks and banks, with the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index (ST:SXXP 203.64, +2.15, +1.07%) up 1.1%. The European Central Bank allocated over 440 billion euros to banks in its first-ever one-year tender. Asia shares were mixed, failing to muster much of a rebound following a sharp drop Tuesday. Among currencies, the dollar was slightly weaker ahead of the Fed statement. Oil futures were down 54 cents to $68.69 a barrel ahead of weekly energy inventories data and gold was up $3.60 at $927.90 an ounce.

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