US equity futures were pointing lower on Tuesday as traders await the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision amid rising Treasury yields and oil prices.
The S&P 500 declined 0.3% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq were off 0.4% each in premarket activity. The indexes finished the previous trading session in the red.
The Fed's monetary policy committee is set to kick off its interest-rate meeting today, with a decision due tomorrow. Markets are currently pricing in a 93% probability that the Federal Open Market Committee will hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, with the remaining odds favoring another Fed pause, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points at the meeting, with its latest "dot plot" likely signaling another hike later this year, UBS Securities said in a note. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer and producer price reports last week failed to improve the inflation outlook, the brokerage said.
Treasury yields were trending higher, with the 10-year rate jumping 5.1 basis points to 5.01%, its highest level since 2007, CNBC reported. The two-year rate added 2.3 basis points to 4.66% while the 30-year rate gained 5.2 basis points to 5.38%.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2.1% to $103.49 a barrel, while Brent increased 1.5% to $107.30.
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Monday launched fresh attacks on Saudi Arabia, raising concerns over oil supplies as the country shut down its critical East-West pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, a key crude and energy chokepoint, multiple media outlets reported.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly said Monday it destroyed an advanced US MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post, President Donald Trump said Iran "wants to make a deal, quickly and badly," but he will decide whether the US will engage or not.
Shares of Bank of America (BAC) edged down 0.8% before the opening bell following a 5.1% drop at the close of Monday. The lender's chief executive, Brian Moynihan, reportedly said at a conference that its third-quarter sales and trading revenue will be roughly flat versus last year, Reuters reported.
CrowdStrike (CRWD), Zscaler (ZS) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) were all down early Tuesday after gains in the previous session, as recent warnings from prominent artificial intelligence executives about the technology's safety risks boosted cybersecurity stocks.
Tuesday's thin economic calendar has the Empire State manufacturing index for September at 8:30 am ET.
Forgent Power Solutions (FPS) is scheduled to release its latest financial results before the bell, while Trip.com (TCOM) is expected to post its earnings after the markets close.
Gold decreased 0.9% to $4,315 per troy ounce, while bitcoin fell 2.5% to $77,105.
