By Sam Meredith, CNBC–

U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher Thursday morning.

At around 2:30 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 20 points, indicating a positive open of more than 23 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were both slightly higher.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in a target range of 1.5%-1.75% on Wednesday, as many had expected, and indicated it would likely not make any policy changes through at least 2020.

The U.S. central bank’s decision to keep borrowing costs unchanged was unanimous, following several dissents in recent meetings.

Market participants also closely monitored global trade developments, with three days to go before the U.S. is due to impose even more tariffs on Chinese goods.

President Donald Trump is expected to hold talks with top trade advisors at the White House on Thursday, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the matter. It is expected that the high-stakes meeting will see senior U.S. officials put forward divergent views on whether to go ahead with Sunday’s planned charges on approximately $156 billion in Chinese goods.

The world’s two largest economies have imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods since the start of 2018, battering financial markets and souring business and consumer sentiment.

Data, earnings

On the data front, the latest weekly jobless claims and producer price index (PPI) figures for November will both be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

In corporate news, Ciena will publish earnings before the opening bell.

Adobe, Broadcom and Costco will report their latest quarterly earnings after market close.