A currency trader stands near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017. Asian stock markets were little changed on Wednesday as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's announcement of the result of its meeting. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

LONDON - Global stock markets were little changed Wednesday as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's announcement of the results of its meeting.

KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, Germany's DAX was down 0.1 per cent at 12,552 while the CAC 40 in France was steady at 5,240. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was stable at 7,272. Wall Street was poised for a similarly flat opening with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures unchanged.

FED WATCH: At the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce it will begin to reduce its enormous bond portfolio, which reached $4.5 trillion. The move will gradually increase long-term borrowing rates. While the decision to shrink the Fed's balance sheet is much expected, when and how the Fed will manipulate its target for short-term interest rates is less clear. After leaving its benchmark rate at a record low for seven years after the 2008 crisis, the Fed has modestly raised the rate four times since December 2015 to a still-low range of 1 per cent to 1.25 per cent.

ANALYST TAKE: "Details on balance sheet reduction will be of interest, but crucially the committee will extend its rate outlook in 2020, and this could give us a good sense of the end-point for the interest rate in this current tightening cycle," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.

WORLD ECONOMY: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development maintained its global growth forecast for this year at 3.5 per cent and next year's but lifted next year's to 3.7 per cent. It also now thinks that the eurozone will grow by 2.1 per cent this year, 0.3 percentage point more than its previous prediction in June. That means the OECD is expecting eurozone growth this year to match the U.S. rate, which it left unchanged. And next year, it's forecasting growth of 1.9 per cent for the eurozone, 0.1 percentage point more than previously thought, but below its 2.4 per cent projection for the U.S. The big three eurozone economies — Germany, France and Italy — all saw upward revisions.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.1 per cent to 20,310.46 and South Korea's Kospi edged down 0.2 per cent to 2,412.20. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.4 per cent to 28,127.80. China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 per cent to 3,366.00. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1 per cent to 5,709.10.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.1 per cent to $50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while Brent crude, used to price international oils, advanced by the same rate to $55.77 per barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The euro was up 0.1 per cent at $1.20 while the dollar fell 0.2 per cent to 111.31 yen.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017