US pre-open: Stocks seen mixed as investors eye Fed policy announcement

US stock futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Monday as attention turns to this week’s rate announcement from the Federal Reserve, with a cut widely expected.

At 1115 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.2%, S&P 500 futures were flat and Nasdaq futures were down 0.1%.

Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, said: "The shifting expectations around the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory opens us up for significant volatility, with the CME highlighting that we have seen a major shift towards a potential raft of oversized cuts in the months ahead. Markets are now pricing a 59% chance of a 50bp cut on Wednesday.

"However, with a whopping 63% attributed to 125-150bp of easing over the coming three meetings, markets may be getting a little carried away. In any case, we should see plenty of volatility given the indecision over the size of Wednesday’s cut, and uncertainty over whether markets treat a 50bp cut as a recessionary."

Policy announcements are also due this week from the Bank of England on Thursday and the Bank of Japan on Friday.

In equity markets, shares of Trump Media & Technology Group rallied in pre-market trade after Donald Trump survived another apparent assassination attempt in Florida over the weekend.

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, first-quarter earnings are due from FedEx on Thursday.