Stock futures edge up after housing starts, PPI

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � U.S. stock-market futures tallied tepid gains Wednesday after data indicated inflation to be in check and mixed signals on housing, with starts weaker than expected but permits rising.

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Later in the session come minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee�s January meeting, with investors on alert for any signals of changes in the central bank�s monetary policy.

Figures from the Commerce Department had builders breaking ground in January on the most homes in more than four years and permits for construction ahead climbing. Housing starts fell to a 890,000 rate, below expectations.

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A separate report from the Labor Department had the producer-price index rising 0.2% in January after a 0.3% decline the month before.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJH3 rose 6 points, or less than 0.1%, to 14,013, while those for the Standard & Poor�s 500 index SPH3 added a fraction to 1,528.20.

Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index NDH3 climbed nearly 1 point to 2,781.50.

Office Depot Inc.�s ODP �possibly premature announcement that it would buy OfficeMax Inc. OMX in a share swap came Wednesday. Expectations of the merger between the office-supply retailers had equities pushing towards their highest-ever levels on Tuesday.

Toll Brothers Inc. TOL �said it swung to a fiscal-first-quarter profit.

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At 2 p.m. Eastern, the Fed will release minutes from its last meeting, with investors looking for clues in the central bank summary for comments about the risks of a third round of quantitative easing and of an eventual exit strategy for the Fed. The Tell: What to watch on the U.S. economy on Wednesday

Security firm Brink�s Co. BCO warned that it expects to see first-quarter results significantly impacted by what�s believed to have been a multimillion-dollar diamond heist at the Brussels airport earlier this week. See: Brink's braces for hit from Brussels diamond heist.

Satellite-TV-service provider Dish Network Corp. DISH said Wednesday that fourth-quarter net income fell 30% as revenue declined.