By Alexandra Gibbs, CNBC–

U.S. stock index futures fluctuated ahead of Thursday’s open.

Around 5:55 a.m. ET, Dow futures fell 20 points, indicating a negative open of -9.28 points. Futures on the S&P 500 were indicating a relatively flat open of 0.28 points, while Nasdaq futures signaled an open of 9.91 points up.

The moves in U.S. futures come after Wall Street closed Wednesday’s session deep in the red, after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded its September policy meeting. The institution hiked its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point and announced that an additional hike was projected by year-end, and that three more were penciled-in for 2019.

Markets came under pressure, with U.S. bond yields dropping, after Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that he didn’t see inflation surprising to the upside.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China continue to escalate. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump accused China of intending to interfere in November’s congressional elections. He added, without providing evidence, that Beijing didn’t want the Republican party to perform well. This prompted an immediate rejection from the Chinese government, which said it didn’t intrude on another country’s domestic matters, Reuters reported.

Elsewhere, Trump criticized Canada for the slow pace of discussions concerning the overhaul of NAFTA. The president said he had recently vetoed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invitation for a one-on-one meeting — a claim that prompted a spokesman of Trudeau’s government to state that no such meeting had been requested. Trump did agree, however, to start trade talks with Japan.

In politics, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is due to appear at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, amid multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.

In data, jobless claims, durable goods, and advanced economic indicators are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET. At the same time, another reading of real gross domestic product (GDP) data will be published. At 10 a.m. ET, pending home sales are due, followed by the Kansas City Fed’s manufacturing survey at 11 a.m. ET.

In corporate news, Carnival, Accenture, McCormick and Rite Aid are all scheduled to publish earnings.