09:13 AM EDT, 09/24/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were flat ahead of Wednesday's opening bell as traders turned cautious after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell flagged a "challenging situation" for the central bank.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.1% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.2% higher.

Powell said Tuesday policymakers face a "challenging situation," with near-term risks to inflation tilted to the upside and those to employment leaning downside.

"If we ease too aggressively, we could leave the inflation job unfinished and need to reverse course later to fully restore 2% inflation," Powell said. "If we maintain restrictive policy too long, the labor market could soften unnecessarily."

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 1.1% at $67.71 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 1.4% higher at $64.27 per barrel.

The August new home sales data, scheduled for release at 10 am ET, is seen coming in at a 650,000 annual rate versus 652,000 in July, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.3% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 1.4% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.8% higher. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.04%, Germany's DAX index was up 0.1%, France's CAC 40 was down 0.7% and Spain's IBEX 35 was down 0.04% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, Lithium Americas ( LAC ) shares were 66% higher after the company said that it is in discussions with the US Department of Energy and General Motors ( GM ) over its Thacker Pass lithium joint venture project, including a pending $2.26 billion financing. Alibaba ( BABA ) stock was up 8% after media reports said that the company plans to increase its artificial intelligence spending.

On the losing side, Freeport-McMoRan ( FCX ) shares were 7% lower after the company said that two workers were fatally injured in a mud rush incident at its Grasberg Block Cave mine in Indonesia that occurred on Sept. 8.