It's widely expected that interest rates won't change
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are confidently above fair value today. Should today's pre-market price action hold, the blue-chip index could take aim at a five-day winning streak -- which would mark its longest since early January. The two-day Fed meeting will get underway later today, but no rate hike is expected to be announced tomorrow. Instead, investors will be clued in to the Fed's economic and interest rate outlooks amid global trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Elsewhere, oil prices continue to surge, with April-dated crude futures up 0.7% at $59.54 per barrel.
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Factory orders are due today. Earnings from FedEx (FDX) and Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) will be released.
It was a muted session for Asian markets today, with traders mostly standing pat ahead of Wednesday's updated economic forecast from the U.S. Fed. By the close, China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.2%, South Korea's Kospi shed 0.09%, Japan's Nikkei gave up 0.08%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng managed a gain of 0.2%.
Bulls have taken the reins in Europe at midday, led by automakers amid reports of a possible tie-up between France's Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler. Meanwhile, London-listed stocks are capitalizing on a weaker pound, with the currency backpedaling after parliamentary speaker John Bercow blocked a vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal until the prime minister submits substantial revisions to the proposal. At last check, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 is 0.6% higher, the French CAC 40 has gained 0.5%, and the German DAX is 1.1% higher.