US pre-open: Futures higher as investors look ahead to FOMC meeting

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Monday as major indices looked set to claw back a fraction of the previous session's losses ahead of tomorrow's Federal Reserve meeting. As of 1245 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.20%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.77% and 1.20% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 190.89 points lower on Friday as investors continued to come to terms with hotter-than-expected core and wholesale inflation readings.

Traders will mostly be looking ahead to tomorrow's Federal Open Markets Committee's monetary policy meeting, with the central bank widely expected to keep benchmark interest rates unchanged. Elsewhere, the expectation of a rate cut taking place in June has also been dialled back in recent days.

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "As far as the CME's FedWatch Tool is concerned, the likelihood of any move on interest rates at this meeting is pretty much zero. But that doesn't mean we're in for a dull time. This meeting is also where the FOMC releases its quarterly Summary of Economic Projections, the first update since December. Within this, the 'Dot Plot' will be studied carefully, as this shows what FOMC members are forecasting for the Fed Funds rate this year and beyond.

"On balance, the market still believes that the Fed will cut rates at its June meeting. But it''s quite possible that the 'Dot Plot' will indicate that FOMC members would prefer to push back on the timing to September, given the recent uptick in inflation data. If so, that could be the catalyst for some profit-taking across equities, which, despite last week's modest pullback, remain near all-time highs."

On the macro front, the National Association of Housebuilders' March housing market index will be published at 1400 GMT.

In the corporate space, Nvidia traded higher ahead of its GTC Conference, while Super Micro Computer shares advanced in pre-market on the stock's first trading day on the S&P 500.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com