US pre-open: Stocks mixed ahead of FOMC decision

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were little changed ahead of the bell as market participants awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting. As of 1300 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.02%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.06% and 0.13% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 204.57 points lower on Tuesday as investors digested a mixed bag of quarterly earnings reports from a number of America's biggest firms.

The Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement at 1900 BST and ensuing press conference at 1930 BST will likely be today's primary focus, with Fed funds futures pricing in almost 98% chance that the central bank will keep its key rate in a range between 4.25% to 4.5%.

Corporate earnings will also draw an amount of attention on Wednesday, with Etsy set to report before the bell, while Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Ford and Robinhood were all set to report their latest quarterly numbers after the close.

On the macro front, US mortgage applications decreased in the week ended 25 July, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, extending the prior week's 10% drop, as mortgage applications registered a 3.8% decline despite a drop in benchmark mortgage rates. Applications to refinance a mortgage, which are more sensitive to short-term changes in interest rates, fell by 1% week-on-week to their lowest since May, despite softer developments in mortgage rates throughout July, while applications to purchase a home fell a sharper 6%.

Still to come, ADP employment change figures will be released at 1315 BST, while preliminary readings of Q2 GDP and PCE were slated for publication at 1330 BST, and June pending home sales data will follow at 1500 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com