U.S. stock futures are flat ahead of Wednesday's Fed meeting

cnbc.com:

Stock futures were flat in overnight trading after the major indexes rallied and oil prices tumbled below $100 a barrel ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 40 points, while S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures were flat.

The gains came ahead of a critical Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, where the agency is widely expected to raise rates by a quarter point, the first hike since 2018. Watchers are also expecting the central bank to offer a new quarterly forecast which could indicate five or six more hikes this year.

«My guess is it's going to sound a little more hawkish than people want it to sound and that's going to be a little tough to digest, particularly in the fixed income markets,» David Zervos, chief market strategist at Jefferies told CNBC's «Closing Bell» on Tuesday. «I think the equity market might digest it a little bit better, but it's going to be a tough swallow.»

The Fed is expected to announce an interest rate decision and economic projections at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by a briefing from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Meanwhile, oil prices cooled off on Tuesday, dropping below $100 after topping a multi-year high of $130 earlier this month, while commodities like gold, which have been volatile in recent days, fell 1.59%.

The U.S. and global oil benchmarks both settled below $100 a barrel, with West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude falling 6.4% and 6.5%, respectively. The fallback put pressure on some energy stocks, including Exxon and Chevron, which sank about 6% and 5% on Tuesday.

During regular trading on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 599 points, or 1.8%, while the S&P 500 jumped more than