Stock futures mostly flat as Paris shootout adds to jitters

[November 18, 2015]  By Abhiram Nandakumar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors remained cautious after a shootout between French police and militants in Paris and a bomb scare at a German soccer match.

* Investors are also awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting last month, due for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

* The minutes will be analyzed for clues on the central bank's reading of the economy. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates at its December meeting.

* U.S. stocks forfeited gains on Tuesday after a soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands, which German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to attend, was called off over fears of a bombing.

* The dollar touched its highest since mid-April and gold inched up on Wednesday.

* Lowe's shares rose 1.2 percent to $73.75 premarket after its profit beat estimates.

* Fairchild Semiconductor jumped 7.1 percent to $19.15 after On Semiconductor said it would buy the company for $2.4 billion. On Semiconductor's shares were untraded.

Futures snapshot at 6:38 a.m. ET:

* Dow e-minis were up 3 points, or 0.02 percent, with 12,467 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.25 points, or 0.01 percent, with 95,046 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 1 points, or 0.02 percent, on volume of 16,601 contracts.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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