US pre-open: Futures point to modest gains as focus remains on the Fed

Wall Street futures were pointing to modest gains at the opening bell on Tuesday with traders' attention still largely attuned to the Federal Reserve, with policymakers set to kick off a two-day meeting later in the day.

As of 1200 BST, Dow Jones futures were ahead 0.38%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were calling the indices to open 0.46% and 0.79% firmer, respectively.

Stocks closed slightly higher to start the week on Monday, with the Dow up 22 points as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday and the upcoming G-20 leaders' summit in Japan.

Market participants will be keeping an eye out for any hints as to whether or not the central bank is set for a rate cut later in the year after fresh hopes for looser monetary policy eased tensions in risk assets last month.

However, The Federal Reserve is expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged - much to the chagrin of Donald Trump, who on frequent occasions had demanded that the central bank cut interest rates.

Also in focus was news from across that pond that ECB President Mario Draghi had doubled-down on the bank's commitment to use all policy tools if the economic outlook did not improve.

On the data front, May housing starts and building permits figures will be posted at 1330 BST.

TD Securities said: "Housing starts are expected to advance mildly in May, rising 0.4% m/m to 1,240k. This would mark the third consecutive monthly increase for the series and its highest level since January. Similarly, building permits should have picked up modestly (+0.2% m/m) to 1,293k during the month."

In corporate news, construction outfit Parsons will post its latest quarterly numbers ahead of the open, while La-Z-Boy will unveil its own figures after the close.