By Victor Reklaitis and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open Wednesday after two straight days of gains for stock markets, as investors waited for minutes from the latest meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers.

Target Corp.(TGT) and Lowe's Cos. (LOW) both fell as each retailer cut its outlook while reporting quarterly results.

Futures for the S&P 500 index (SPU4) edged down by 2 points, or 0.1%, to 1,975.20, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4) dipped by 13 points, or 0.1%, to 16,868. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index (NDU4) were basically flat, down 1 point, or less than 0.1%, to 4,033.25.

No major U.S. economic releases are on Wednesday's calendar beyond the minutes of the July 29-30 Federal Open Market Committee meeting. "The question which everyone will be asking is if the Fed are ready to increase the interest rate sooner rather than later. Some hawkish members have certainly started beating the drums of an early increase," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade. Read more: Morgan Stanley's take on the Fed's exit plan

While investors may glean clues about the Fed's exit strategy from the minutes, markets may also quickly move past them to focus on Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen's speech at 10 a.m. Eastern Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Read: Yellen to stress patience on rates at Jackson Hole

U.S. stocks were buoyed on Tuesday by better-than-expected housing starts and a handful of upbeat earnings, lifting the S&P 500(SPX) by 0.5% to 1,981.60, within striking distance of its July 24 record close at 1,987.98.

What strategists are saying: Wall Street has seen a boost in recent sessions due to a lack of upheaval on the geopolitical front, but this rally looks to be running out of steam, said Joao Monteiro, analyst at Valutrades, in a note to investors.

"This is perhaps no real surprise -- markets are now nudging back into that inflated territory and there is still the risk of one or more of the conflict hot-spots escalating significantly, although the risk-on trade remains in favor -- we have USD/JPY (USDJPY) back above Yen103 and gold (GCZ4) resolutely below $1,300/oz," he said. If the Fed minutes show another bias, Monteiro said equities "could well find an excuse to move higher once again."

Investors should keep buying the dips in this market, because it's just showing signs of a maturing bull phase, rather than "warning of an impending market turnaround," said Citi strategists in a recent note. Also read: Wednesday's Need to Know: The 'short of the decade' and one willful bull's call for Dow 19,000

Movers & shakers: Apple Inc.(AAPL) gave up a little ground after nailing an all-time split-adjusted closing high of $100.53 on Tuesday, as shares dipped 0.3% in premarket action on Wednesday. Read: 7 reasons why this product cycle will be different for Apple

Hertz Global Holdings Inc.(HTZ) shares slumped 12% premarket after the rental-car company said it expects to be "well below the low end" of guidance, due to operational challenges and costs from restating its financial statements for the last three years.

Lowe's fell 3% in premarket trading after the company cut its 2014 sales outlook, while Target shed 1.8% after lowering its outlook for the year, still reeling from a data breach and reduced traffic at its stores. (Read more about today's jumpiest stocks in the Movers & Shakers column http://www.marketwatch.com/story/target-lowes-petsmart-report-earnings-wednesday-2014-08-19.)

Other markets: The British pound (GBPUSD) rose against the dollar, after the minutes of the Bank of England's latest policy meeting showed a split vote for the first time in three years, with two members voting for a rate hike. The FTSE 100 index was down 0.5%, while the Stoxx Europe 600 index was off 0.1%. Russia and Ukraine worries hurt Carlsberg AS , which slid over 4% after it warned that problems due to that conflict will have a bigger-than-expected hit on full-year earnings than initially thought.

In Asia, stocks closed with moderate gains, outside a small loss for the Shanghai Composite Index .

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