By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening largely unchanged Tuesday, with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in focus ahead of the start of an eagerly-awaited Federal Reserve meeting.
At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 20 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded largely flat, while Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 20 points, or 0.1%.
The three major indices all closed at record levels on Monday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining almost 100 points, ending 0.3% higher. The broad-based S&P 500 closed up 0.2% and the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6%.
The Federal Reserve’s highly-anticipated two-day policy meeting starts later Tuesday, and the central bank is expected to announce that it would begin to buy fewer bonds each month to head off rising inflationary pressures.
Investors will also be interested in what the central bank says about rising prices, and consequently about when it will start raising interest rates, as inflation is running at a 30-year high. What it says on this subject will be an important determinant of risk appetite in the weeks ahead.
More quarterly earnings reports are scheduled from the likes of drugmaker Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS), oil giant ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), ride-hailing company Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) and sports equipment company Under Armour (NYSE:UA).
Tesla will also be in focus, with the stock trading sharply lower premarket after CEO Elon Musk tweeted that its ground-breaking bulk order from car rental firm Hertz Global hasn't been finalized yet. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said the electric car maker is recalling nearly 12,000 U.S. vehicles because of a software communication error.
Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) has secured emergency use approval for its Covid-19 vaccine in Indonesia, its first in any country, while industrial materials maker DuPont de Nemours (NYSE:DD) said earlier Tuesday it would buy engineering materials technology maker Rogers (NYSE:ROG) for about $5.2 billion.
Crude prices edged lower Tuesday, retreating from highly elevated levels despite preliminary October output data from a group of the top producers suggesting the global supply situation remains tight.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets with allies including Russia later this week to discuss their production levels.
According to a Reuters survey, the group increased output by 190,000 barrels per day over the month, below the 254,000 b/d they could have increased output by under their current deal.
The American Petroleum Institute will also release its latest U.S. crude oil supply data at 4:30 PM ET.
By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.2% lower at $83.86 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.1% to $84.62.
Additionally, gold futures dropped 0.1% to $1,793.75/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% lower at 1.1587.