U.S. stock index futures were mixed in premarket trading Wednesday, pointing to a flat opening on Wall Street after two days of losses.

Mixed economic data this week have fueled concerns that the global economy will be slow to recover from the recession, making investors more selective and cautious. A weaker dollar coupled with higher commodities prices and rising interest rates have added to investor concerns.

The May consumer price index was scheduled for release at 8:30 am ET Wednesday. A Reuters survey of analysts sees the CPI up 0.3%.

Treasuries were lower Wednesday morning, as were gold and oil. The dollar index, however, was up.

In economic news Wednesday, the U.S. MBA mortgage market index dove 15.8%, along with a 3.5% drop in the purchase index and a 23.3% plunge in the refinancing index. Average mortgage rates remained elevated and this continued to take a bite out of mortgage applications, especially for refinancings. The 30-year fixed fell 7 basis points to 5.50%, while the 15-year slipped 11 basis points to 4.99% and the 1-year ARM eased 21 basis points to 6.54%.

According to Action Economics, the mortgage and housing sector remains a central issue for the Federal Reserve amid risk that market yields prematurely race higher ahead of the recovery despite ongoing Fed purchases of agencies, agency MBS and Treasuries. In this regard, it shouldn’t be a surprise that leaks about steering expectations via the FOMC statement emerge.

S&P Economics says that the Fed’s attention remains on recession risk over inflation risk and believes continued financial turmoil and weak jobs reports will likely keep the Fed on hold through most of 2010.