Investing.com — U.S. stock indexes on Tuesday edged futures as investors remained cautious, with the Federal Reserve expected to cut interest rates this week but signal a slower pace of easing. The majority fell.
As of 6:15 a.m. ET (11:15 p.m. Japan time), it was down 110 points, or 0.3%. It fell by 10 points (0.2%) but rose by 6 points (0.1%).
Major tech stocks extended recent gains Monday to record highs. But the Dow got off to a slow start, posting an eight-game losing streak, the longest since June 2018.
Fed rate cut, focus on outlook
The central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bp) at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
Wednesday's rate cut appears to have been largely priced in by the market, especially given Wall Street's recent rally, but the focus will be primarily on the central bank's rate outlook.
Investors are bracing for the Fed to signal a slower pace of easing in 2025 amid growing signs of inflation stickiness and labor market strength, two key issues for the Fed.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a recent note that they no longer expect a rate cut in January and that the pace of rate cuts next year will slow slightly.
Traders are pricing in an 81.9% chance that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged in January, the data showed.
Beyond the Fed, the focus this week will be late Tuesday, the data says.
Technology sector remains a focus
The tech sector will remain in focus on Tuesday, with the prospect of near-term interest rate cuts boosting large-cap stocks such as Apple (NASDAQ:), Amazon (NASDAQ:) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:).
However, Nvidia (NASDAQ:) is bucking this trend, with the chipmaker's stock price down more than 10% from its highs and into correction territory.
Elsewhere, crypto-focused stocks continued to rise. coinbase global (NASDAQ:) and MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:), Bitcoin rose above $107,000.
Oil prices fall ahead of Fed meeting
Oil prices fell on Tuesday, weighed down by profit-taking ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.
By 6:15 a.m. ET, U.S. crude oil futures (WTI) were down 1.5% at $69.64 per barrel and Brent crude oil futures were down 0.9% at $73.28 per barrel.
Oil prices have fallen from multi-week highs seen last week, as weak economic data from China on Monday prompted investors to take profits as they feared for the health of the world's second-largest economy. are.
Traders have also been reluctant to hold significant positions ahead of this potentially market-moving event, shifting into holding patterns ahead of the Fed meeting.
(Amber Warrick contributed to this article.)
