US pre-open: Futures move higher ahead of Fed meeting, Apple event

Wall Street futures had stocks opening higher ahead of the bell on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting and Apple's first virtual-only product reveal.

As of 1245 BST, the Dow Jones futures were up 0.72%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.77% and 1.12% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 327.69 points higher on Monday as a raft of corporate deals and optimism around a Covid-19 vaccine led a broad market rally.

The Federal Reserve will start its policy-setting meeting later in the day, with a news conference and a fresh statement from Central Bank officials set to follow on Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee's meeting will be its first since launching its new policy framework of targeting average-inflation.

Over to Apple, the tech giant has been pegged to reveal its new smartwatch and iPad devices during its digital product launch at 1800 BST.

Oanda's Craig Erlam said: "The week got off to a decent start, buoyed by a raft of headlines including vaccine news and M&A activity. Adding to this overnight was some better than expected Chinese data which has continued to lift the mood. The more inclusive gains are promising and investors may also be encouraged by the stabilization we're seeing in the tech space.

"Ultimately though, it's the Fed meeting on Wednesday that could be the difference-maker this week. The central bank modified its framework last month and this is its first opportunity to act upon it. In allowing for an inflation overshoot, the Fed has given itself to be patient in considering tightening, when the time comes, or even ease further. With some economic data improving faster than expected, policymakers may err towards the former and monitor price pressures in the near-term."

On the macro front, import and export prices for August will be published at 1330 BST, as will September's New York Empire State Manufacturing Index, while industrial production figures for August will follow at 1415 BST.

In earnings news, Adobe and FedEx will report after the close.