Stocks Mostly Down Pre-Bell as Traders Monitor Developments on US-Iran Negotiations; Fed Policy Meeting on Deck
US equity futures were mostly pointing lower on Tuesday as traders monitor developments on negotiations between the US and Iran and await the Federal Reserve's latest decision on interest rates, along with a fresh round of corporate earnings.The S&P 500 decreased 0.2% and the Nasdaq declined 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inclined 0.3% in premarket activity. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 finished Monday trading with new closing highs for a second consecutive session, while the Dow ended in the red.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly said Monday that President Donald Trump reviewed a new proposal from Iran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz with national security officials, according to Bloomberg News. Trump has made his "red lines" extremely clear with respect to Iran and will address the matter "very soon," Leavitt said.Tehran recently submitted a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and delay talks on uranium enrichment, Axios reported, citing a US official and two other sources.West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 3.5% to $99.73 a barrel before the opening bell, while Brent gained 2.8% to $111.28.The Fed's monetary policy committee is set to kick off its meeting on interest rates today, with a decision due tomorrow. Markets widely expect the central bank to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged for a third consecutive meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool.With the Federal Open Market Committee's decision unlikely to surprise, the market is expected to focus on the policy statement and post-meeting remarks of Chair Jerome Powell, said David Doyle, head of economics at Macquarie Group."Given that elevated oil prices have persisted for nearly two months now, future guidance may shift somewhat," he said in a Monday report e-mailed to. "This would be in contrast to March where there were limited changes made. Our view remains that the next policy move is likely to be a hike with the most likely timing in (the first half of 2027)."Treasury yields were trending upwards in premarket action, with the two-year rate advancing 1.9 basis points to 3.82% and the 10-year rate adding 1.8 basis points to 4.35%.Coca-Cola (KO), S&P Global (SPGI), Spotify Technology (SPOT), United Parcel Service (UPS), Sherwin-Williams (SHW), Hilton Worldwide (HLT) and General Motors (GM) are scheduled to release their latest financial results before the bell, among others. Visa (V), T-Mobile US (TMUS) and Starbucks (SBUX) post earnings after the markets close.Shares of Snap (SNAP) nudged down 0.2% pre-bell after the social media company finished the previous session with a 7.3% jump. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) moved 0.4% lower as the computational software company announced its latest quarterly results. Oracle (ORCL) fell 5.5%.Tuesday's economic calendar has the Case-Shiller Home Price Index and the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index, both for February, at 9 am ET. The consumer confidence report for April is out at 10 am, along with the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for the same month.Gold dropped 1.4% to $4,626 per troy ounce, while bitcoin ticked down 0.2% to $76,604.