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Futures little changed as Fed statement awaited

[September 17, 2014]  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday ahead of a key statement by the Federal Reserve which is expected to provide clues on the next monetary policy move by the U.S. central bank.

* The S&P posted its best performance in a month Tuesday and the Dow industrials set a record intraday high amid wavering expectations regarding the Fed's stance.

* The Fed is expected to offer fresh indications on how soon it plans to begin lifting interest rates as it prepares for a shift in stance after years of easy monetary policy.

* U.S.-traded shares of Sony Corp fell 10.6 percent in premarket trading after it estimated a bigger loss and said it would not pay a dividend this fiscal year for the first time since it listed in 1958.

* Shares of Rackspace Hosting slumped 20.5 percent a day after the cloud management services provider said it would not sell itself.

Futures snapshot at 7:35 a.m. EDT:

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.5 points, or 0.03 percent, with 83,057 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 2.75 points, or 0.07 percent, in volume of 3,276 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were up 9 points, or 0.05 percent, with 3,898 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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