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Alphabet down on potential DOJ action

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Fed minutes due at 2:00 p.m. ET

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Futures: Dow down 0.05%, S&P 500 down 0.04%, Nasdaq down

0.07%

(Updated at 6:55 a.m. ET/10:55 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Pranav Kashyap

Oct 9 (Reuters) -

Stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday as

investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest

meeting for clues on the policy path, while Alphabet dipped

after the U.S. said it was considering breaking up Google.

Shares of Alphabet fell 1.2% in premarket trading

after the U.S. Department of Justice said it may ask a judge to

force Google to divest parts of its business, including the

Chrome internet browser and Android operating system, to curtail

its search monopoly.

Dow E-minis were down 23 points, or 0.05%, S&P

500 E-minis were down 2.25 points, or 0.04%, and Nasdaq

100 E-minis were down 13.25 points, or 0.07%.

Indexes closed higher on Tuesday after rebounding from

Monday's selloff, with technology stocks leading the charge as

U.S. Treasury yields eased.

This week's trading has been particularly volatile, with

investors adjusting their expectations for rate cuts, seeking

new catalysts for a clearer market direction. Key inflation data

on Thursday and the upcoming third-quarter corporate earnings

season are now in focus.

Minutes from the Fed's September meeting, when policymakers

kicked off monetary policy easing with a 50-basis-point rate

cut, are due at 2:00 p.m. ET.

"The tone of the Fed minutes should not change expectations

of further rate cuts. The Fed is still scrambling to catch up

with inflation slowing in the U.S. and started cutting rates

late, but expectations about the pace of easing may be set by

the minutes," said Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global

Wealth Management.

Commentary from a number of Fed officials including Philip

Jefferson, Thomas Barkin, Raphael Bostic and Mary Daly are also

expected through the day.

Investors are overwhelmingly pricing in a 25-basis-point cut

at the Fed's November meeting, with some now seeing a slight

chance the central bank will keep rates on hold, according to

the CME FedWatch tool.

Prior to the release of strong employment data last week,

markets were leaning towards an outsized 50-bps cut in November.

Among single stocks, shares of Arcadium Lithium ( ARLTF )

soared 31.1% after Rio Tinto said it would acquire the

miner for $6.7 billion. Rio Tinto's U.S.-listing slipped

1.1%.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms dropped for a second

day, tracking a slide in domestic stocks as investors continued

to question if China would announce new stimulus measures.

Alibaba Group fell 2.9%, PDD Holdings ( PDD ) lost

3.6% and JD.Com dropped 4.4%.

Additionally, investors were also keeping a watch on the

impact of Category 5 Hurricane Milton as well as the escalating

conflict in the Middle East.