Wall Street Likely To Open Flat; Fed Announcement In Focus

(RTTNews) - Subdued futures point to a flat to slightly negative start on Wall Street Wednesday morning. The focus will be on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later in the day.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement and new Chair Kevin Warsh's post-meeting comments could impact the outlook for rates.

Investors will also be reacting to retail sales data for the month of May, and pending home sales report, and looking ahead to the signing of a peace deal by Washington and Tehran later this week in Switzerland.

U.S. stocks turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday. Among the major averages, Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed weak, while the Dow climbed to a new record closing higher.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended down 307.60 points or 1.2 percent at 26,376.34. The S&P 500 dropped 42.94 points or 0.6 percent to 7,511.35, while the Dow rose 328.64 points or 0.6% to 51,999.67.

Optimism about an end to the monthslong U.S.-Iran contributed to the recent recovery, but some traders looked to cash in on the gains as they wait for the peace deal to be finalized. Substantial weakness among semiconductor stocks also weighed on the Nasdaq.

Asian stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due later in the day, and Friday's signing of the U.S.-Iran interim peace agreement.

European stocks are mostly subdued in lackluster trades with investors looking ahead to monetary policy announcements from the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England (Thursday) and the Swiss National Bank (Thursday), and awaiting the signing of U.S.-Iran peace deal.