Wall Street opens higher as eyes fixed on Fed's minutes

US stock indices opened higher on Wednesday, shrugging off earlier disappointing housing data that showed building permits fell more than expected as housing starts declined unexpectedly in July.

Now markets await the Federal Reserve's minutes for the July 25-26 meeting, at which policymakers voted to maintain interest rates at between 1.00% and 1.25%, while confirming their plan to normalize the bank's massive $4.5 balance sheet later this year. 

As of 03:26 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.27%, or 6.73 points to 2,471.34, while Dow Jones gained 0.32%, or 69.97 points to 22,068.96. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ climbed 0.21%, or 13.65 points to 6,346.66.