Stocks - U.S. Futures Flat Ahead of Fed Rate Decision

Investing.com - U.S. futures were flat on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision and economic projections later in the day.

While no rate cut is expected, investors will be focusing on changes to the language in the Fed's statement and in Chairman Jerome Powell's subsequent comments as to the the triggers for and timing of an eventual move. Powell's press conference begins at 2:30 PM ET (17:00 GMT).

Markets now see the chance of a rate cut in July have increased to more than 80% as ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China slow global growth, and dampen the inflation outlook.

Tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed by 6:50 AM ET (10:50 GMT), rising 2 points to 7,677.25, while Dow futures rose 6 points to 26,510.50 and S&P 500 futures were flat at 2,926.38.

Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) was among the top gainers in premarket trading, rising 4.2% after reporting a 25% revenue increase in the last quarter, while Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) gained 0.4% and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) was up 0.5%.

CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) was also in focus after the Wall Street Journal reported that it has revived plans to merge with sister company Viacom (NASDAQ:VIAB), while Boeing (NYSE:BA) inched up 0.2%. A U.S. House of Representatives aviation panel is expected to hold a hearing on the grounded 737 MAX Wednesday from pilots, flight attendants and a former Federal Aviation Authority.

Elsewhere, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) fell 0.3%, while Nike (NYSE:NKE) was down 0.4% and PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) slipped 0.3%.

In commodities, crude oil fell 0.1% to $54.05 a barrel. Gold futures slipped 0.3% to $1,346.05 a troy ounce while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, inched up 0.1% to 97.10.

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