US pre-open: Stocks seen mostly higher ahead of Fed meeting, tech earnings

US futures pointed to a mostly higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday as investors eyed the start of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting and earnings from the likes of Alphabet and Microsoft.

At 1115 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were up 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively.

Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, said: "Hopes that the Chinese government’s stimulus measures will help drive domestic demand may be lending some support whilst those softer than expected PMI readings from yesterday are also serving up ammunition for policy doves at the Federal Reserve.

"Whilst a rate hike is still expected tomorrow, again numbers like this increase the prospect of the Fed’s policy tightening cycle coming to an end.

"Ahead of the bell, we have a slew of earnings including General Electric and General Motors, whilst heavyweights Alphabet and Microsoft will be updating after the close. AI updates continue to play a prominent role in driving sentiment for the tech sector, with Microsoft’s investment in ChatGPT and office integration plans placing them at the forefront of the push to generate significant revenues from AI."

On the macro front, consumer confidence figures for July are due at 1500 BST.

In corporate news, Goldman Sachs was likely to be in focus after Citi cuts its rating on the shares to ‘neutral’.