By Oliver Gray 

- U.S. stock futures traded lower during Wednesday's evening deals, after major benchmark indices snapped a 5-day rally with risk sentiment souring as Federal Reserve policymakers indicated further rate rises to combat inflation.

By 7:00pm ET (11:00pm GMT) Dow Jones Futures and S&P 500 Futures fell by 0.1% apiece while Nasdaq 100 Futures declined 0.2%.

In extended deals, Wolfspeed Inc (NYSE:WOLF) added 18.6% after reporting Q4 losses of $0.02 per share, better than expected losses of $0.10 per share. Revenue came in at $228.5 million versus $209.31 million expected.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) added 4.5% after reporting Q4 EPS of $0.83 versus $0.82 expected on revenue of $13.1 billion versus $12.73 billion expected.

Bath & Body Works Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) dipped 2.1% after reporting Q2 EPS of $0.52, above estimates of $0.44, while revenues came in at $1.62 billion, in-line with expectations.

 Ahead in the session, market participants will be focused on weekly jobless claims, the Philly Fed manufacturing index and existing home sales, while earnings results from Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT), Kohls Corp (NYSE:KSS), Tapestry Inc (NYSE:TPR), Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) and Ross Stores Inc (NASDAQ:ROST) will be closely monitored.

During Wednesday’s regular trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Averagefell 171.7 points or 0.5% to 33,980.3, the S&P 500 declined 31.2 points or 0.7% to 4,274 and the NASDAQ Composite dipped 164.4 points or 1.3% to 12,938.1.

Risk sentiment soured throughout the session following the release of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes, with policymakers expected to keep raising interest rates in order to fight inflation, while indicated that the pace of tightening may be adjusted based on market conditions.

On the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were at 2.902%.