By Tanya Agrawal

 

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors were wary of making big bets ahead of major political and economic events expected on Thursday.

 

General election in Britain, the European Central Bank's policy meeting and former FBI Director James Comey's testimony before a Senate panel could all affect investor sentiment.

 

Comey's first public appearance since he was fired by U.S. President Donald Trump might shed more light on a probe by the FBI into alleged Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election.

 

His testimony could dampen already flagging momentum for Trump's legislative agenda of rolling back healthcare reforms and overhauling the tax code.

 

A closely-fought election in Britain is also weighing on investors' minds, with one poll showing Prime Minister Theresa May increasing her parliamentary majority, while another suggesting a neck-and-neck race with the Labour Party.

 

The ECB will also hold its policy meeting on Thursday and is expected to reiterate its plan to extend the money-printing scheme at least until the end of the year.

 

Safe havens turned attractive, with gold XAU= steadying near seven-month highs and U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hovering near lows not seen since the November U.S. election.

 

Wall Street ended near session lows on Tuesday as traders shied away from risky assets ahead of major political and economic headlines.

 

Still, U.S. equities continue to hover near record levels, helped by a stellar first-quarter corporate earnings season.

 

Oil prices dipped on renewed concerns about the efficacy of OPEC-led production cuts due to rising tensions within the export group over Qatar and growing U.S. output. [O/R]

 

Shares of Navistar International (NAV.N) were down 8.5 percent at $27.37 in premarket trading after the truck and engine maker posted a quarterly loss.

 

Tesla (TSLA.O) slipped 0.8 percent to $350.10 after the company's annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday.

 

Exact Sciences (EXAS.O) was down 2.2 percent at $35.79 after the diagnostics test maker looks to raise $250 million in a stock deal.