*
While the health of the U.S. economy appears to be stabilizing,
the effect of the yuan devaluation and other macro factors are
playing on investor's minds. The Fed minutes will be released at
2 p.m. ET.
* Economists believe the Fed will probably raise rates twice
this year, with the first hike coming in September. Investors
are still not fully convinced of a September hike, but most are
betting a rate hike will occur by the end of year.
* Chinese stocks reversed sharp declines and ended higher after
the central bank injected more funds into the financial system
for a second day in a bid to calm panicky markets.
* The People's Bank of China devalued the yuan last week,
triggering an avalanche of selling by investors globally who
feared Beijing wanted to engineer a much sharper decline to
support weak exports.
* The Chinese market gyrations kept commodity prices under
pressure, with oil and copper near six-year lows.
* Other data due Wednesday is expected to show consumer prices
rose 0.2 percent in July, less than the 0.3 percent rise in
June. The Consumer Price Index data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
* Lowe's <LOW.N> shares fell 1.6 percent to $71.85 in premarket
trading after the No.2 U.S. home improvement chain's quarterly
profit missed expectations.
* Yum Brands <YUM.N> rose 1.5 percent to $85.50, a day after the
owner of the KFC and Pizza Hut chains announced new leadership
for its China division as activist investors lobby the company
to spin off that business.
* Staples fell 1.6 percent to $13.93 after the office supplies
retailer reported quarterly revenue slightly below analysts'
estimates, hurt by a stronger dollar.
Futures snapshot at 7:07 a.m. ET:
* S&P 500 e-minis were down 5.25 points, or 0.25 percent, with
143,877 contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 11 points, or 0.24 percent, on
volume of 23,476 contracts.
* Dow e-minis were down 57 points, or 0.33 percent, with
22,069 contracts changing hands.
(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio
D'Souza)
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