Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, March 19:
1. Fed Kicks Off Policy Meeting
The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) begins its two-day policy meeting today, with a decision due Wednesday afternoon.
Many investors expect the Fed, which has raised rates four times last year, to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged and stick to its pledge of a "patient" approach to monetary policy.
The U.S. central bank will also release new forecasts for economic growth and interest rates, known as the "dot-plot", which will probably point to either no more rate hikes this year or to one more at most.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was a shade lower at 95.85 by 5:40AM ET (09:40 GMT), hovering close to a two-week low.
In the bond market, U.S. Treasury prices were little changed, with the benchmark 10-year yield standing at around 2.60%.
On the data front, January factory orders numbers are due at 10:00AM ET (14:00 GMT).
2. Brexit Chaos
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plans were in disarray as her government sought to plot a way around the speaker of parliament's ruling that she had to change her twice-defeated divorce deal to put it to a third vote.
Speaker John Bercow blindsided May's office on Monday by ruling the government could not put the same Brexit deal to another vote in parliament unless it was substantially different to the ones defeated on Jan. 15 and March 12.
Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said the ruling meant a vote this week on May's deal was more unlikely but said ministers were studying a way out of the impasse and indicated the government still planned a third vote on May's deal.
Sterling inched up 0.1% to $1.3268, finding some support after slipping to as low as $1.3183 in the previous session
3. FedEx Reports Earnings
Economic bellwether FedEx (NYSE:FDX) is set to report earnings after the closing bell on Wall Street.
According to analysts polled by Investing.com, the shipping giant is expected to report earnings per share of $3.14 for its fiscal third-quarter on revenue of $17.62 billion.
During the company’s last earnings report in December, management gave weak guidance for 2019 and cited concerns about the continued deceleration in global trade.
Read more: FedEx: Dividend Stock To Hold For Decades, Boost Retirement Savings: Haris Anwar
4. Wall Street Set for Higher Open
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open, supported by expectations the Fed will strike a dovish tone at its policy meeting.
The blue-chip Dow futures were up 84 points, or about 0.3%, the S&P 500 futures rose 8 points, or around 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a gain of 20 points, or roughly 0.3%.
Elsewhere, European stocks edged higher, with most major bourses across the continent in positive territory following Wall Street's lead.
Earlier, markets in Asia held to tight ranges, but were broadly supported near 6-1/2-month highs.
5. API Oil Supply Report
In commodities, the American Petroleum Institute is due to release its weekly report for the week ended March 15 at 4:30PM ET (20:30 GMT), amid expectations of a decline of about 0.7 million barrels in U.S. crude stocks.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 24 cents, or around 0.4%, at $59.62 a barrel, their highest level since November 12.
Meanwhile, international Brent crude oil futures tacked on 38 cents, or 0.5%, to $67.92 per barrel, within touching distance of a four-month peak of $68.14 marked late last week.
With two weeks to the end of the first quarter, WTI is up 31% on the year and Brent 26%, with both benchmarks benefiting extensively from aggressive production cuts carried out mainly by Saudi Arabia since the start of January.
-- Reuters contributed to this report