US pre-open: Dow futures flat ahead of Fed policy meeting
Wall Street futures had major indices opening only slightly higher ahead of the open on Tuesday as traders remained concerned about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and a spike in Covid-19 cases in China ahead of the Federal Reserve's all-important interest rate decision.
As of 1225 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.06%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.14% and 0.37% firmer, respectively.
The Dow, which was up more than 300 points at one time, closed just 1.05 points higher on Monday as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continued to heat up and investors prepared for the Fed to raise its target Fed funds rate for the first time in almost four years.
News that Ukrainian capital Kyiv had enforced a 35-hour curfew was in focus ahead of the bell on Tuesday, with the curfew set to start at 2000 EET due to ongoing Russian missile strikes on the city. Russia and Ukraine will supposedly resume ceasefire talks on Tuesday as Moscow nears multiple deadlines on its debt payments.
Also drawing an amount if investor attention was the fact that China was now facing its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the height of the pandemic, raising fresh concerns regarding the recovery of the global economy moving ahead.
On the macro front, February's producer price index will be published at 1230 GMT, as will March's New York State manufacturing index, while January's net long-term Treasury international capital flows will follow at 2000 GMT.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve will begin its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with market participants predicting that the central bank will raise rates by 0.25% - the first interest rate hike since 2019 - in order to combat soaring inflation.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Tuesday.